Adriano Altamira

Born in Milan, where he lives and works, Adriano Altamira (17/7/47) is among the most singular figures on the Italian artistic and cultural scene. His artistic activity began in the early 70s, concurrently with that of critic and scholar of modern and contemporary art.

In 1972 he held his first two solo exhibitions in Italy and the following year his first solo exhibition abroad. Following an initial production of micro-sculptures, he chose photography as an investigative tool and preferential medium for his expression.

From that moment on, he established himself among the younger generation of conceptual artists with his research for Area di Coincidenza (Coincidence Zone), which combined his critical-sociological approach to research, with experimentation in new media. Some of the results of this research would be revisited by the author in his theoretical and historical publications – from the ’70s to the most recent – reiterating, in addition to an artistic validity, even one that was purely scientific.

To date, Adriano Altamira has held 45 solo exhibitions, and participated in at least 200 collective exhibitions all over the world.

Starting from 1972 Altamira also began what would become a continuous collaboration with the magazine Nac. He would also publish presentations, essays, articles and interviews on Flash Art, The Arts, Celestial Theme, FMR, as theorist and critic.

At the end of the 70s he became the Milanese correspondent for the Parisian magazine Artistes, directed by Bernard Lamarche-Vadel. In the same period he also directed the magazine Studio G 7 in Bologna. From 1977 (until 1989) he was a fixed contributor to the Pagina dell’Arte (Arts page) and of Terza pagina (The third page) of Giornale Nuovo. And  from 1989 until 1994, he contributed to the Pagina dell’Arte (Arts Page) of the Corriere della Sera.

Meanwhile, from the late 70s to the early 90s, Altamira developed a second line of research entitled Ice Dreams, based on the recording of dream images. The idea was to create a large archive of dreams (to date he has collected more than 8000), and in particular to develop and create forms autonomously invented by the artist’s unconscious, artifacts that did not exist, except in the mind of the sleeper. These object dreams were first described through a series of drawings and short texts. Subsequently, some of them were built in 1:1 scale and realized three-dimensionally, using various methods and materials. In these years the author returned to drawing and reconnected with traditional techniques (terracotta, sculpture in metal and wood) functional to the realization of the models, or to the reconstruction in scale of his dreams.

In 1996 he began a third line of research, which gave rise to his current photographic production – beginning with the exhibition Piccola Apocalisse (1999). Already during the gestation of this work the artist had developed an operative method based largely on chance, which then became the theme around which all his latest production revolves (Visti per Caso, Cosa Caso Caos, etc. ). Altamira is currently working on the book La forma dei sogni in which he addresses these three central and recurrent themes of his artistic creation from a theoretical viewpoint. Even this latter work confirms the artist’s preoccupation with the formation of creative processes rather than to a production of works in the traditional sense.

After some years dedicated to the writing and publication of books, Altamira resumed his journalistic activity on the Internet, joining the editorial board of the photography blog: www.informatissimafotografia. it

His most important books to date are: the 6th volume of the manual Arte nel Tempo ( Art through time), dedicated to the art of the previous century, (Bompiani – 1991 with various subsequent reprints and a revised edition in 1998).

Il Secolo Sconosciuto (The Unknown Century – 1997) an extensive essay on 20th-century art. Area of Coincidence (Coincidence zone – 2001) a critical re-edition of articles and writings related to his research of the 70s.

Miti Romantici -Simboli e inconscio dell’Era industriale (Romantic Myths – Symbols and unconscious of the Industrial Age – 2004) derived from a course held the previous year at the Catholic University of Brescia. Followed by La Vera Storia della fotografia Concettuale (The True History of Conceptual Photography – 2007) a first attempt at a historical reconstruction of the function that photography has had within conceptual currents.

Creative works include 5 Livelli di cultura (5 levels of culture – 1972) L’invenzione di Schiapparelli (Schiapparelli’s invention – 1980) Sogni Traume Reves Dreams (written with Franco Vaccari, 1985) Sogni gelati (Ice dreams – 1987) NEurOclassicismo (1990), Piccola Apocalisse (Small Apocalypse -1999) Giudizio sul Giudizio (Judgement on The Judgement – 2005).

Adriano Altamira has been chair of History of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brera, at the Biennial Specialty Course of Photography of which he was initially the coordinator. He also teaches Psicologia della Forma (Psychology of Form) at the same Academy. Between 2000 and 2005 he taught Fenomenologia degli stili (Phenomenology of Styles) at the Department of Arts and Drama of the Catholic University of Brescia.