A dip into primordial Africa, where umanity was born, and
where tribes and nature still keep that bond with the land
that contemporary civilization has lost.
The pictorial sign was the first expressive element that man
has used to leave a trace of himself.
No matter if the media is a rock, a canvas or a body, the
important thing is to express with colorful signs an identity
or a belonging. Painting, despite the digital revolution, remains
one of the most powerful means and acts as a common
thread between the cavemen and many contemporary
artists that reflect the African tribal art, body art and cave
paintings with new meanings. Among them, Keith Haring and
Jean-Michel Basquiat, bound by deep friendship and respect,
could be the perfect heirs of cavemen.
They dominated the art scene in New York of the ‘80s with
their art that never followed the herd. In fact, in a society
that was chasing the ephemeral and the unnatural, the frantic
search for an unattainable perfection, the imperfect sign
of Basquiat and the childish one of Keith preached peace,
generosity and fought against racism and social injustice
reconnecting directly to black art. The primitiveness of the
signs tells the contemporary need to “reconnect” with Mother
Earth and to seek the authenticity that has been lost. This
need is reflected in the recovery of craft work, weavings,
embroideries, in the use of the natural colors of the land,
but especially in the newfound knowledge that some manual
skills can never be replaced by machines.