ART, WHATEVER IT TAKES
Since the early pandemic in 2020, Rome Art Program has conducted a series of interviews, “Art, Whatever It Takes.”
Artists, Art Critics, and Art Historians living in Italy, the U.S., and U.K., share their insights during these powerful times.
Interview with Ria Lussi
Ria Lussi is an Italian artist born in Milan and living in Rome. Ria studied as a painter in Paris, as a visual designer in Urbino, and translation in Trieste. When she draws, it is usually with a black Bic pen, so no turning back is allowed.
Her preferred mediums are silk, glass, because they are fragile and yet resilient. Among Ria latest shows: ” Who is afraid of pink?”, “Allegoria”, “I am Giordano Bruno”, “Fragile”, “Mitochondria”, “Light Emperors”.
RAP: What is your definition of “art” today?
Ria Lussi: Art is life and death.
RAP: Art is dynamic and regenerates itself… how does it change, and how did it change us?
Ria: Techniques and technologies change the artworks, not the meaning of art.
RAP: When (and how) did you understand that art was becoming very important in your life?
Ria: I was seven years old. I began my art life as a writer. Writing is still an important part of my artwork.
RAP: What role does art play today? What are the “great figures” who have recently changed it? Do you feel close to any of these figures?
Ria: JR has been one of them. Jan Favre.
RAP: Are there still traditional figures such as collectors, muses, mecenate and patrons, in today’s art and society interaction model?
Ria: Art life can be very lonely, but the “art milieu” is full of necessary interactions. Apart of social media, of course…
RAP: How have the new technologies and media culture changed art today, improving or worsening it…? What do you feel are your biggest challenges?
Ria: Improving, in my opinion. The biggest change is to be able to say stop and stay silent.
RAP: Art as a mirror of man, in this moment of emergency seems to be shattered …what do these fragments reflect now?… Shadow or light of the moment?
Ria: Light, pink light, it’s the moment to say that art is a mirror of women 😉
RAP: Understanding, interpreting, and then possibly judging the work of art; which is the right path when we are in front of a piece of art?
Ria: Intuition, respect.
RAP: Which is the real role of Academies and Art schools today? What can artists learn from these institutions today?
Ria: It’s so important to find inspiring, alive masters! Also good fellows with whom it’s possible to share happiness and despair.
RAP: Art too has undergone a complex process of globalization; can having an authentic and genuine style be an advantage or a drag for an artist?
Ria: An advantage even if it takes more time.
RAP: How do Art Galleries and Museums position themselves today, and, in your opinion, how should they?
Ria: I think it is very old fashioned. It’s time for great changes. Art has been based on an exclusive system, now let it be inclusive!
RAP: “Figuration” vs “Abstraction”. Which of the two is better descriptive of the period we live in? Which one will have a better future?
Ria: They are both part of linguistic exchange between “me” and the world. My personal style is a very crowded cosmogony of abstract figures.
RAP: Today we often speak of “emerging artists”; what advice based on your experience do you feel you can give to young artists?
Ria: Work hard, believe in yourself, go on…
RAP: Art as a lens for reading the present, can it modify the space and time we pass through? …will art save us?
Ria: Art is in my experience the only way for reading the present, the past and the future:-) And it saves everybody because the whole cosmos is a great, magnificent artwork!
@rialussi