Modern Italian Poets: Saba, Montale, and Ungaretti

Poetry has played an important role in inspiring my art, my life’s work, & path. In addition to reading & writing poetry, I have made pilgrimages to the houses of poets (Pablo Neruda in Chile; Nicholas Guillen in Cuba; Dante in Firenze; etc), & they have often appeared as subjects of my work (Jean Genet; Nazim Hikmet; Alejandra Pizarnik; Ruben Dario; Gioconda Belli; etc). Italian Modernist Poets pays homage to three greats; Eugenio Montale, especially, is one of my favorites of all time. The piece is entirely collaged; I chose to use solely earth-toned ephemera to evoke both the early 20th century era in which they wrote, as well as the setting: Italy— in all of its golden, ochre, sepia, sienna, umber warmth.. The three poets are engaged in their own respective creative work. The post-consumer waste I have used references their own biographies, as well as poetry & Italy in general, combined with contemporary & humorous elements. There is a torn tattoo festival poster from Arizona; coasters from a posh cafe in Paris; a cheerios box; Italian porn comics; a jovial gluten-free pasta box; the cover of a communist schoolbook from Beijing; Coconut Bliss ice cream covers; a Big Star bookmark; an original sketch I did in a piazza in Catania, Sicily; & more…