Bruises on powerful women faces, viral shock posters - Lifestyle

The protagonists of world politics portrayed as victims of violence, from Angela Merkel to Brigitte Macron, have been wallpapering the walls of Milan since 25 November, the international day for the elimination of violence against women but now the poster works of the artist aleXsandro Palombo have taken a new echo. On the posters posted at the entrance of the university, on the facade of the Teatro Lirico and on that of the Litta, the slogan "Just because I'm a woman" is accompanied by phrases such as I am a victim of domestic violence - I get paid a little - I was raped . "The works were made for November 25, if I had used my relationships with the media to make them known I would have unleashed something I didn't want, instead I wanted to see - explains Palombo to ANSA - how the city would have reacted to this work. If I had done it in London or Paris it would have been easy, but I wanted to see how long it took here to reach popularity, and it happened through passing foreigners, who made it viral. " For him "it was interesting to see people's reactions, often there are those who consider them too strong, I - he underlines - I only lay bare the reality that nobody wants to see, because we live in the social world where it is constantly altered: you place yourself in the chest naked on Instagram and you are beautiful, then maybe you have just beaten your partner, just see what happened to Big Brother. With my work I bring you reality and I tell you: this is the world where we live ".
Alexsandro, 46 ​​years old from Puglia with a past as a stylist, has been art for inclusion and gender equality for a decade. "I was the pioneer, nobody - he says - at the time spoke of these issues, which should not be treated lightly, with marketing, I try to create a social path, Banksy does it with politics, I with social issues and today my works are iconic and known all over the world ". Yet in Italy, his works were noticed after almost two months: "I am not interested in being a prophet at home, social art is cleared worldwide, while we - he reflects - are stuck in the Renaissance and therefore out of the market" . But for Palombo, this is not the only reason for this delayed outburst attention: "on social issues in Italy there is very little social awareness". After exhibiting in half the world, Palombo decided to do something in Milan : "I have lived here for years and I wanted to make a gift to the city, without anyone's involvement, in complete freedom. But now I ask the mayor Sala to take the works exhibited in front of the Litta Theater and to save them before the Milanese gallery owners take them over, would be an important gesture for the city and for art ". The women of politics are not the first portrayed as victims of violence: they are from 2015 Madonna with a swollen face and Angelina Jolie with a pitched eye. "At the time - Alexsandro says - Jolie was still married to Brad Pitt, who got very angry and asked me to pick up the works, I replied no and, although he wanted to sue me, she understood the artistic value of the series and they let it go ". The celebrities had been chosen "to break the virtual wall in which everyone builds an identity parallel to the real one. The message was that life is not a fairy tale if you break the silence". With the women of politics "I take a step forward, the message is:" attention: the first to use violence are men of power ", as the attacks on Ocaso or Brigitte Macron demonstrate." And to those who accuse him of being too strong, Palombo replies: "I have only stopped the time we live in, if historians will look at these works in 100 years, they will find what surrounds us every day".