A Matter of Perspective: Constructing Space in Italian Art, Relativity

Chicago)
 This series of three lectures looks at the history of representation in Italian art from the unrealistic organizations of space in medieval paintiing and the recovery of classical perspective that shaped the Renaissance to the fragmentation of space in modern and contemporary art. Over three installments, this series argues that the construction of space in art and architecture constitutes much more than a simple aesthetic solution in representation and that the ways in which Italian artists have constructed space in their work is part of a complex relationship which defines the essence of being human in a precise moment of time and place. We will, therefore, consider the philosophical currents that impacted and still shape the representation of indoor and outdoor spaces and the new conceptions that inform the current emphasis on decentering the viewer.
 
Giovanni Aloi is an art historian in modern and contemporary art. He currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sotheby's Institute of Art New York and London, and Tate Galleries. He regularly lectures on modern and contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been translated in Italian, Chinese, French, Russian, Polish, and Spanish.