Alba D’Urbano
Alba D’Urbano (born April 13, 1955 in Tivoli, Italy) is a textile and video artist.
D'Urbano's most notable work was 1995's "hautnah" (close to the skin); a series of garments imprinted with life-size digital photographs of her own skin.[1] After an exhibition in 1999, critics stated she depicted nudity as fashionable, provoked voyeurism, and made skin (the external body) just another interface in a world.[2][3] In addition to her own work, D'Urbano has been a critic and an art philosopher. Since 1995, D'Urbano has been a professor at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, in Leipzig, Germany.
Early life
D'Urbano studied philosophy at the Sapienza University of Rome from 1974 to 1978. Her work as an artist was influenced by her affiliation with the ‘Distracted Avantgarde’ (Klemens Gruber), which sought to bring about a paradigm shift in the relationship between art, politics and mass communication. It was against this backdrop that Alba D’Urbano produced experimental radio programmes for the alternative broadcasting station Radio Gulliver in Tivoli (modelled on stations such as Radio Alice in Bologna and Radio Città Futura in Rome) and founded a feminist group.[4]
In 1979, she enrolled in a course of visual arts studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome under Enzo Brunori, graduating in 1983. Experimental works in collaboration with other artists date from that period. One such fellow artist was composer Alessandro Cipriani with whom she created performances, Super-8 films, and artistic events in public spaces.[5]
Alba D’Urbano moved to (West) Berlin in 1984 and began her studies in visual communication at the Berlin University of the Arts in 1985. In 1989 she graduated as a master student (Meisterschüler-Degree) in experimental film design under Wolfgang Ramsbott. In 1990 she held a scholarship at the Institute for New Media (INM) in Frankfurt am Main, headed by Peter Weibel. It was during that time that she met her future husband, Nicolas Reichelt.[6]
After a lectureship at the Offenbach University of Art and Design (HfG) she was appointed to teach at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig in 1995 where she has since held a professorship in computer graphics,[7] and has taught the class for intermedia since 1998.[8] In 2003–2004 she taught at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano for one academic year. Since 2000 she has curated numerous exhibitions at the national and international level as part of her university duties, addressing political and social issues and incorporating both process-orientated and media-reflective methods.
Artistry
In the 1980s Alba D’Urbano’s artistic interest focused on the drastic changes in the perception of reality brought about by the increasingly influential glut of virtual images, which are generated by the mass media and susceptible to manipulation. At the core of her artistic exploration was the relationship between the written word and the new media. Berlin’s urban space with its partly truncated communication paths and its insular status provided the setting for her first video works from the series Nur die Augen können (filmed at Checkpoint Charlie, 1985)[9] and Kreis, der (filmed on Ernst-Reuter-Platz, 1987). For the video installations for the series Berlin Kulturstadt Europas she focused on local communication media; in the series of paintings entitled Prometheus she addressed the impoverished human communications and the loss of writing.
In the 1990s Alba D’Urbano turned to "interactive video and computer installations, to which her creative, complex, experimentally enhancing and problem-conscious approach gave significant impetus as a means of artistic impression".[10] In her projects, some of which featured a multiplicity of media (e.g. L’esposizione impraticabile,1992, ’96;[11] Rosa Binaria, 1993–96;[12] Hautnah[13] and Il sarto immortale, 1995–98)[14] she raised the viewer’s awareness of mass media and their ‘problematic nature without polemic and without affecting the aesthetic evocative force of various media’ [Fußnote 2, Künstlerlexikon].[10]
In a bid to counter an overwhelming array of media images, she began to toy with the viewer's expectations. She substituted images with illegible strings of characters and drew the viewer's attention towards the way in which media images are created and the processes they involve. She gained international renown through her multi-part projects Hautnah[15] and Il Sarto Immortale,[16] in which she digitally processed images of her own body and then had them printed onto fabric and transformed into items of clothing to be showcased by models on catwalks. In the interplay between clothing and nakedness she literally exposed the commercial exploitation of women's bodies in the mass media and the fashion industry.
The works she developed jointly with Tina Bara are inspired by feminist standpoints: there, the body is portrayed as a matrix inscribed into which are identities as a cultural and social construct. For the two women artists it is always about the process of allocating normative attitudes and behaviour patterns. In a series of intermedia projects such as Portrait Alba / Tina Ritratto and Bellissima the artists also referenced biographical material. A new added element incorporated by Tina Bara is the subject of the German Democratic Republic’s past. The series of portraits entitled Siegerehrungen (2003) for instance features former elite GDR athletes. The project Covergirl: Wespen-Akte (2007-2009) looks at the opposition group Frauen für den Frieden,[17] of which Tina Bara is also a member.
Solo exhibitions (selected)
- 1987 Ingranaggio/Interlocking with Andrea Scrima. Karo Gallery Berlin
- 1991 Videoinstallationen with Martin Figura. Shin Shin Gallery, Berlin
- 1991 Occhio Elettronico. Studio Leonardi, Genoa
- 1992 L’esposizione impraticabile. Kommunale Galerie, Frankfurt am Main
- 1993 Un Anno. Galleria Stefania Miscetti, Rome
- 1993 Rosa Binaria. Galerie im Bürgerhaus, Neunkirchen; Gallery of the City of Fellbach
- 1994 Der negierte Raum. Sequenz, Frankfurt am Main
- 1994 Un Anno. Gallery Beckers, Darmstadt
- 1995 Hautnah. Special show at Kunst ’95, Zurich
- 1996 Rosa Binaria: Spirale. Kunstverein Friedrichshafen
- 1996 Rosa Binaria. Kunstvideoforum, Stadtwerke Hameln
- 1996 Der Faden. Kunstverein Celle, Gothic hall in the castle of Celle
- 1996 In Vitro. Institute for New Media, Frankfurt am Main
- 1997 Il sarto immortale: couture. Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden
- 1998 Il sarto immortale: display. Kunstverein an der Finkenstraße, Munich; Gallery Pohlhammer, Steyr (A)
- 1998 Die wunderschöne Wunde. Städtische Galerie im Karmeliter Kloster, Frankfurt am Main
- 1998 ′…as save as…′. Literaturhaus, Munich
- 2000 outside. Kunstforum Berlin, performance in urban space, Berlin
- 2003 Whoami. Lindenau Museum, Altenburg
- 2003 Corporal Identity with Tina Bara. Gallery Schüppenhauer, Cologne
- 2004 Whoami. Stadtgalerie Kiel; Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg
- 2004 Opere d’Arte 36 with Tina Bara. Galleria Stefania Miscetti, Rome
- 2009 Bellissima with Tina Bara. Gallery Schüppenhauer, Cologne
- 2010 erröten/redden with Dagmar Varady. Ufo-Galerie Halle (Saale)
- 2011 !Perla_Miseria! with Tina Bara. Landesgalerie, Linz; Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin
- 2012 !Perla_Miseria! with Tina Bara, Kunst+Projekte e.V., Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen
- 2012 Alba D’Urbano, Topographie de l'art, Paris
- 2013 wissen with Dagmar Varady, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Kunsthalle
- 2015 History/Tales with Tina Bara, Galerie im Turm, Berlin
Group exhibitions (selected)
- 1988 Video-Installation Kreis: la Piazza im Rahmen des Kulturjahres Berlin, Kulturhauptstadt Europas 1988. Esplanade, Berlin
- 1989 Internationaal audio-visueel experimenteel festival 1989. Arnheim
- 1990 Il recinto e il luogo sacro. Sora (Italy)
- 1992 Informationsdienst. Künstlerhaus Stuttgart
- 1993 Projekt Xenografia. Biennale Venice
- 1993 Computerkunst/Arte digital. Goethe Institute, Buenos Aires
- 1993 Voyages Virtuels. Espace Aventures, Paris
- 1994 Borderline. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin
- 1994 Intelligente Ambiente. Ars Electronica ’94, Design Center, Linz
- 1995 Kunst, Chaos, Medien. Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen
- 1995 Manual Devices. Artfair Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main
- 1995 Telepolis. FIL, Luxemburg
- 1996/97 Arte Electronica. Goethe Institute, Madrid
- 1996/97 Fotografie nach der Fotografie. Kunsthalle Krems; Städtische Galerie Erlangen; Museet for Fotokunst, Odense; Fotomuseum Winterthur; Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
- 1996/97 Inszenierung und Vergegenwärtigung. Kirche St. Martin, additional event to Dokumenta X, Kassel
- 1998/99 Lingerie: eine Unterwelt. Museum Bellerive, Zurich
- 1998/99 Skulptur, Figur, Weiblich. Landesgalerie Oberösterreich, Linz
- 1998/99 Kunst und Papier auf dem Laufsteg (fashion show). Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin
- 1998/99 Natural Reality. Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen
- 2000 Der Anagrammatische Körper. ZKM, Karlsruhe
- 2000 Crossfemale. Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
- 2001 GeldLust: ModelBanking. Kunsthalle Tirol, Hall
- 2001 KIMAF. Gallery of the Center for Contemporary Art, Kiev
- 2002 Skin: Surface, Substance and Design. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York
- 2002 Nackt. Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
- 2002 Die zweite Haut - Kunst und Kleidung. Museum Bellerive, Zurich
- 2002 Der Akt in der Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts. Kunsthalle in Emden
- 2003 now and forever – Beständigkeit und Moden in der Kunst. Luitpoldblock, Munich
- 2003 Bellissima. Gallery of the HGB, Leipzig
- 2003 Through the Looking Glass: Women and Self-Representation in Contemporary Art. Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University
- 2004 Annäherungen an das Glück. ACC Gallery, Weimar
- 2005/06 Pattern Language - Clothing as Communicator. Tuft University Art Gallery, Medford; Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University Art Museum, University of California Santa Barbara; Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
- 2005/06 Elettroshock The video in Italy from the 70’s till today (1973-2006). China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
- 2005/06 Eine Frage [nach] der Geste, Opera Leipzig
- 2007 Second Skin: Entry 2006. Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
- 2007 Transparent. Granary, Fiskars , Finland
- 2008 Frauen bei Olympia. Frauenmuseum, Bonn
- 2008 Kunstwerke 36. Internationales Festival für Kunst und Technologie, Melbourne, Florida
- 2009/10 Das Böse ist ein Eichhörnchen. District Court Leipzig, Leipzig
- 2009/10 YOU_Ser: The Century of the Consumer, ZKM 10th anniversary. Santralistanbul, Istanbul
- 2009/10 "Turbulent World – Telling Time", Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin; Moscow, Russia; Minsk, Belarus; Tbilisi, Georgia; Kiev, Ukraine; Almaty, Kazakhstan; St Petersburg, Russia; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Novosibirsk, Russia
- 2009/10 That Obscure Object of Desire. offiCina Gallery, Beijing
- 2009/10 Intimacy! Baden in der Kunst. Kunstmuseum Ahlen
- 2009/10 Agents and Provocateurs. MedienKunstVerein Dortmund
- 2011 Puzzle. Museum of Contemporary Art (GfzK), Leipzig
- 2011 Morceaux Exquis. Espace Fondation EDF, Paris
- 2011 Wenn jemand eine Reise tut. Museum of Contemporary Art (GfzK), Leipzig
- 2012 Mal schauen!, Motorenhalle Dresden
- 2012 Viaggio in Italia, Exhibition with students of the HGB Leipzig and invited guests, Werkschauhalle, Spinnerei Leipzig
- 2012 Collection’s Show 2012, Part 1: Appropriation of the Present, Museum of Contemporary Art (GfzK), Leipzig
- 2013 Inside Out – Einblicke in Mode, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Arts and Crafts), Hamburg
- 2013 INTIMATE (Students of the Intermedia class, HGB), Galerie Eigen+Art, Leipzig
- 2013 Cultural Clash Nomade (HGB Leipzig, HEAD Genève), in: Leipzig, Nordhausen, Frankfurt am Main, Ludwigshafen, Strasbourg, Genève
- 2013 Subversive Design, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (UK)
- 2014 Gyeongnam International Photography Festival, Art Center, Changwon (KR)
- 2014 Source, Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing (CN)
- 2014 Medialer Ausnahmezustand with Tina Bara, Nationalmuseum Stettin (PL)
- 2015 Leipzig, Heldenstadt? with Tina Bara, Goethe Institute Marseille (F)
- 2015 2.5.0. - Object is Meditation and Poetry with Tina Bara, Grassi Museum, Leipzig
- 2015 IKONISCH/ ICONICO - Das Bild als Referenz, Medienkunst Lateinamerikas und Deutschlands with Tina Bara, Goethe Institute Madrid (E)
- 2015 Desperate Housewives? Künstlerinnen räumen auf, Museum Kulturspeicher Würzburg
Works in public collections (selected)
- Gutenberg-Museum, Mainz
- Collection of the City of Frankfurt am Main
- Collection of the Town of Fellbach
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wertpapiere (DWS), Frankfurt am Main
- Dresdner Bank, Munich
- Collection of the Contemporary Art Gallery in Termoli, Italy (Galleria Civica d'Arte Contemporanea)
- Deutsche Bank, Darmstadt
- ZKM | Medienmuseum, Karlsruhe
- Medienhaus, Frankfurt am Main
- Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin
- Art Fund of the Free State of Saxony, Dresden
- Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück
- Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg[18]
- Museum Bellerive, Zurich
Prizes and scholarships / Awards
- 1987 Grant from the editors of Das kleine Fernsehspiel (ZDF) for the realization of the video Kreis, der
- NaFög-grant of the Universität der Künste, Berlin
- Project grant of the Röhm GmbH, Darmstadt
- 1990 Grant Pépinières of Eurocréation, Paris
- 2006 Project grant of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes for Eine Frage (nach) der Geste[19]
- 2009 Project grant of the Stiftung Kunstfonds for Covergirl: Wespen-Akte
Bibliography / Literature by and on Alba D’Urbano (selected)
- D’Urbano, Alba: La Porta. In: Il recinto e il luogo sacro (exhibition catalogue), Sora 1990.
- D’Urbano, Alba: Al Caro Scomparso. In: Videoinstallationen (exhibition catalogue), Berlin 1991.
- D’Urbano, Alba: Rosa Binaria. In: Gerbel, Karl; Weibel, Peter (ed.): Ars Electronica 1993, Vienna 1993.
- D’Urbano, Alba: Der negierte Raum. In: Gerbel, Karl; Weibel, Peter (ed.): Ars Electronica 1994, Linz 1994.
- Wolff, Thomas: Neues aus der Raumforschung. In: Steiger, Charly (ed.): Sequenz, Frankfurt am Main 1995.
- D’Urbano, Alba: Hautnah. In: Kunstforum International, Kunstforumverlag Ruppichteroth 1995; also in Fotografie nach der Fotografie, Verlag der Kunst, Munich 1995.
- D’Urbano, Alba: Stoffwechsel. In: Reindl; Dietzler; Ummels; Broch (Hg.): Art Hansa Spezial, (exhibition catalogue), Salon Verlag, Cologne 1997.
- Schwarz, Hans-Peter: Touch me. In: Medien-Kunst-Geschichte, Prestel Verlag, Munich 1997.
- Ingrid Mössinger: Alba D‘Urbano. In: Barbara Wally (Hg.), Skulptur, Figur, Weiblich, (exhibition catalogue), Bibliothek der Provinz, Linz 1998.
- Wendt, Karin: Experimentum Loci: Virtuelle Räume. In: Hermann, Mertin, Valting (ed.): Die Gegenwart der Kunst, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1998.
- Alexandra Kolossa: Il Sarto Immortale. In: Heike Strelow (ed.): Natural Reality, (exhibition catalogue), Dako Verlag, Stuttgart 1999.
- Gebhard Streicher: Il Sarto Immortale: Display. In: It's now or never, (exhibition catalogue), Transit I – IV, DG eV, Munich 1999.
- Benthien, Claudia: Haut. Literaturgeschichte – Körperbilder – Grenzdiskurse, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1999.
- Gertje Maaß: Alba D’Urbano. In: Barbara Hoffer, Valeria Schulte-Fischedick (ed.): Crossfemale, (exhibition catalogue), Berlin 2000.
- Elisabeth Hartung: Die Zweite Haut – Kunst und Kleidung, (exhibition catalogue), Merano 2001.
- Michaela Völkel: Inszenierung. In: Wilhelm Hornbostel, Nils Jockel (ed.): Nackt. Die Ästhetik der Blöße, (exhibition catalogue), Prestel Verlag, Munich 2002.
- Günter Meißner: Alba D'Urbano. In: Günter Meißner (ed.), Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Vol. 31, p. 181ff., Saur Verlag, Munich 2002.
- Wegenstein, Bernadette (Spring 2002). "Getting under the skin, or, How faces have become obsolete". Configurations. Johns Hopkins University Press. 10 (2): 221–259. doi:10.1353/con.2003.0018.
- Lenoir, Timothy (Fall 2002). "Makeover: Writing the body into the posthuman technoscape: Part two: corporeal axiomatics". Configurations. Johns Hopkins University Press. 10 (3): 373–385. doi:10.1353/con.2004.0003.
- Mark Hansen: Affect as medium, or the ‘digital-facial-image’. In: Journal of Visual Culture, Vol. 2(2): 205-228, SAGE Publications, London 2003.
- Dieter Daniels, Alba D’Urbano: Utopie: Ursprung aller Medien. In: Andreas Broekman, *Rudolf Frieling (ed.): Bandbreite-Medien zwischen Kunst und Politik, Kulturverlag Kadmos Berlin 2004.
- Petra Leutner: Oberflächen mit Körper. In: Christian Janecke (ed.): Haare Tragen, Böhlau Verlag, Cologne, 2004.
- Lorella Scacco: Alba D’Urbano. In: Estetica Mediale, Guerini Verlag, Milan, 2004.
- Alba D’Urbano/Tina Bara/Susanne Holschbach (ed.): Bellissima, exhibition catalogue, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig, 2006.
- Alexandra Kolossa: Die Anwesenheit der Abwesenden Alba D’Urbano – Eine Annäherung. In: Alba D’Urbano: Whoami: In ordine Sparso, Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nuremberg, 2006.
- Hubertus von Amelunxen: Einmal hören. Für Alba. In: Alba D'Urbano: Whoami: In ordine Sparso, Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nuremberg, 2006.
- Cora von Pape: Kunstkleider. Die Präsenz des Körpers in textilen Kunst-Objekten des 20. Jahrhunderts, Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld, 2008.
- Ingrid Loschek: Wann ist Mode? Strukturen, Strategien und Innovationen, Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin, 2007.
- Ingrid Loschek: When Clothes become Fashion. Design & Innovation Systems, Berg Publisher, Oxford, 2008.
- Jorge Lozano: La Moda: sublime menor. In: Manuel Lucena Giraldo, Ignacio Gonzales Casasnovas (ed.): Amazonas y modelos: Universo femenino y cultura en el siglo XX, Instituto de Cultura, Fundacìon Mafre, Madrid, 2008.
- Alba D’Urbano/Tina Bara (ed.): Eine Frage (nach) der Geste, exhibition catalogue Fotohof Salzburg Edition, Salzburg, 2008.
- Alba D’Urbano: Private Property: all you need... In: LIVRAISON T.11 Multiples et autres/and other Multiples (S. 16-25), Rhinoceros, Strasbourg, 2008/2009.
- Reuter, Jule: Tina Bara/Alba D’Urbano, Covergirl. In: Ralf Eppenede (ed.): Bewegte Welt – Erzählte Zeit 1989-2009, (exhibition catalogue), Goethe-Institute, Saint Petersburg, 2009.
- Eran Fisher: Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age: The Spirit of Networks, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2010.
- Océane Delleaux: Le Multiple et les «autres» multiples. Histoire d'une mutation artistique, Europe et Amérique du Nord (1984-2006), L’Harmattan, Paris, 2010.
- Constanze Küsel: Die Made in der Schokolade; Frankfurt University Press, Frankfurt am Main, 2010.
- Alba D’Urbano: Erschreckend Schön: Körperpoetik und Körperkonstruktion. In KUNSTmagazin 1005 (p. 8-13), KUNSTverlag, Berlin 2011.
- Paolo Bianchi: Alba D’Urbano & Dagmar Varady »wissen – ein Werkkatalog«, in: Kunstforum 225, March–April 2014, p. 320-323
Footnotes
- ↑ staff. "Erotics of the Artificial". Design Writing Research.org. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ↑ Loschek, Ingrid ; [translated into English] (2009). When clothes become fashion : design and innovation systems (English ed.). Oxford: Berg. p. 54. ISBN 1847883664. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ↑ Hammerstingl, Werner. "Gender and representation". Olinda.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ↑ Klemens Gruber: Die zerstreute Avantgarde. Strategische Kommunikation im Italien der 70er Jahre, Böhlau-Verlag, Vienna 2010.
- ↑ http://www.edisonstudio.it/edisonIta/cipriani/cipriani.html
- ↑ vgl. http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/werke/esposizione-impraticabile/ und http://on1.zkm.de/zkm/werke/TouchMe
- ↑ http://www.hgb-leipzig.de/index.php?a=person&b=mitarb&id=22&js=2&
- ↑ http://www.hgb-leipzig.de/index.php?a=studgang&b=mk&c=&d=&p=261&
- ↑ http://www.durbano.de/videography.html
- 1 2 Günter Meißner (ed.): Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Vol. 31, Saur Verlag, Munich 2002, p. 181 ff.
- ↑ http://kultur.inm.de/projects/90-94/esposizione.html
- ↑ http://90.146.8.18/de/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_artikel.asp?iProjectID=8819
- ↑ http://www.inm.de/people/alba/couture/
- ↑ http://www.durbano.de/sarto/index.html
- ↑ http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/werke/hautnah/
- ↑ http://www.inm.de/people/alba/sarto/index.html
- ↑ http://www.goethe.de/ins/ru/lp/prj/bew/kue/bar/de4773508.htm
- ↑ Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg: Inside Out. Einblicke in Mode
- ↑ http://www.kulturstiftung-des-bundes.de/cms/de/foerderung/offen/grundsaetze/ab_december_2008/
External links
- Literature by and about Alba D’Urbano in the German National Library catalogue
- Website von Alba D'Urbano
- Alba D'Urbano at the HGB Leipzig
- Intermedia class at the HGB Leipzig
- Intermedia class
- About Alba D'Urbano at the ZKM
- About Alba D'Urbano at the Institut für Neue Medien in Frankfurt am Main
- Website of the artist duo Tina Bara and Alba D'Urbano
- Couture – The Collection