HEIMATROMANE / TEMPESTE DI PRIMAVERA

The works HEIMATROMANE and TEMPESTE DI PRIMAVERA concern the visual representation of mass-produced postwar European publications such as Dreigroschenromane, Pennynovels, and Fotoromanzi. 

While researching the tradition of European HIGH culture, I discovered LOW culture in the particularly bizarre phenomenon of the german Heimatroman. The publications are best described as melodramas, usually set in a romantic alpine setting and are emanating patriotic undertones. The covers of these pulp novels use the graphic language of the german flag as well as the font of the controversial FRACTURA GOTHIC. These seemingly harmless booklets have been in circulation in this specific visual imagery since the end of WWII; geared towards an undemanding audience, they have rarely been questioned. 

This series TEMPESTE DI PRIMAVERA is based on the Italian phenomena Fotoromanzi, the weekly serial magazines photographed in the static manner of movie stills, accompanied by a predictable dialogue usually handwritten upon the image. These cinematic comic strips originated in Italy and achieved tremendous popularity during the fifties and sixties in Italian, Spanish, and French speaking countries, and are still being published today. 

TEMPESTE DI PRIMAVERA was on exhibit at PS1, Contemporary Art Center, 1986.