Strata - Italian Art since 2000 - The Words of the Artists

Strata compiles 37 conversations with artists whose work has made a significant contribution to the Italian and international art scene since 2000. This book is the personal account of a number of encounters, friendships, and professional relationships that Vincenzo de Bellis and Alessandro Rabottini have nurtured over the past twenty years. The conversations explore pivotal moments in each artist's career and delve into their conceptual and formal concerns, focusing on the aesthetics, philosophies, and politics underpinning their work. The publication portrays several generations of artists and encompasses an array of diverse approaches to painting, sculpture, film, performance, installation, social and collective intervention, photography, and activism. The title of the book, Strata (the Latin term that denotes the gradual concretion of multiple layers of rock) is thus deployed as a metaphor for the multiplicity of languages and sensibilities that have brought the cultural debate to life in Italy over the past two decades. Moreover, the authors hope that the book will also function as a tool for younger artists, for whom the experiences of the previous generations may constitute a direct resource, enabling them to dive straight into the body of accumulated knowledge that would otherwise be mediated by the current educational hierarchy.