For the whole month of January, the Museo Italo Americano of San Francisco will present a series of illustrated lectures dedicated to the quintessential beauty of Italy: “Attentive Eyes,” “Historic Center of Florence,” and “Venice and its Lagoon.”
The first of these three different appointments with the most spectacular cities of Italy, was “Attentive Eyes,” a lecture by Mariella Poli, that was held last Tuesday, January 14.
Presented by The Leonardo da Vinci Society, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and the Museo Italo-Americano, “Attentive Eyes” was an in-depth introduction to the ongoing exhibit “UNESCO Italia: The World Heritage Sites in the Work of 14 Photographers,” which is on display at the Museo until next January 26.
Masterpieces of creative human genius, architecture that illustrates a significant stage in human history, superlative natural phenomena, areas of exceptional natural beauty–such sites are designated and protected by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Of these 981 marvels of design and nature worldwide, 49 are in Italy, more than in any other single country.
The Museo Italo-Americano and the Italian Cultural Institute are currently exhibiting images of Italy’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, seen through the lenses of several pre-eminent Italian photographers. Mariella Poli, interdisciplinary artist and Professor at the California College of the Arts, will talk about the art and method of the exceptional photographers in this exhibit.
Mariella Poli, BFA and MFA at San Francisco Art Institute, is an interdisciplinary artist working with installation which includes photography, video, and film. Her work investigates culture, identity, place, and the power of space. Her work has been exhibited in such international institutions as the National Museum of Fine Art in Hanoi, Vietnam, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (MART), Italy, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Ava Gallery in Capetown, South Africa, Ca’ Foscari University, Studio Barberi Arte Contemporanea in Venice, Italy, Studio La Città Gallery, Verona, Italy, International Fair for Modern Art, Art Cologne, Germany; UCCI Gallery, Madrid, Spazio Italia IIC, Los Angeles, Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco.
Ms. Poli currently has been working on a project using photography and Cinema concerning culture and media reflecting a span of time from 1935 to 2013.
The second event to showcase the iconic beauties of Italy is “Historic Center of Florence”, January 16, 2014, an Illustrated lecture by Professor Roy Willis on the wonders of central Florence from the Romanesque to the Renaissance period. He will talk about the Baptistery, the contribution of the Arti Maggiori (owner’s guilds) in creating the cathedral, the triumphs of Brunelleschi and Michelangelo’s tomb for the Medici. Professor Willis is one of the most popular, interesting and lively lecturers presented by the Museo.
To conclude the series, the lecture “Venice and Its Lagoon” will be presented next Thursday, January 23, 2014. On this occasion Professor Roy Willis will talk about Venice as a refuge from the Barbarian invasions, the creation of a trading empire from the Adriatic to Constantinople, the Doge’s palace and the great houses on the Grand Canal, and the churches—the last triumphs in the eighteenth century of Canaletto and the Grand Tour to Venice.
All lectures will be at the Museo Italo Americano in Fort Mason Center, 7:00 PM. Admission is $5 for Museo Members, $10 for non-members. RSVP to (415) 673-2200.
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