La questione moderna in Europa, 1923–1946

We invite you to the presentation of the first volume of the series An Anthology of Graphic Culture (Lazy Dog, 2023), entitled The Modern Question in Europe, 1923-1946, edited by Alessandro Colizzi, Silvia Sfligiotti and Carlo Vinti. The curators Alessandro Colizzi, Silvia Sfligiotti and designer Francesco Ceccarelli speak; Luciana Gunetti and Mario Piazza moderate.

"Anthology of Graphic Culture" is the new series dedicated to the history of visual communication. Edited by Alessandro Colizzi and Silvia Sfligiotti, assisted from time to time by one or more guest editors, the series offers a series of volumes, organized around a theme or an era, and includes a rich anthology of texts (articles, essays, chapters, excerpts, posters) translated into Italian and introduced by an essay by the editors.

"The Modern Question in Europe" addresses the graphic debate within the modern movement of the interwar years, with an expanded look at the European continent to include authors from cultures and national histories hitherto neglected by historiography.

Far from being a unified phenomenon, the modern movement was characterized by a plurality of manifestations and the presence of very different theoretical positions. In particular, modernist graphics was the result of a process of negotiation between actors belonging to different national contexts. Moreover, actors from multiple disciplinary fields participated in its formation: advertising, publishing, architecture, photography, journalism, and the printing industry.

This anthology reflects the variety of orientations and opinions expressed both within individual national events and by the different personalities involved, who interpreted the ideology of the modern in ways and forms as heterogeneous as ever. The panorama that emerges is decidedly more nuanced and hybrid than has appeared in existing publications to date, and allows us to grasp the phenomenon in its theoretical, aesthetic, technological and social complexity.