“Abandoned places have always fascinated man… but we should respect and enhance them, not deface them”. An assumption of disarming simplicity, what logic dictates but which then impacts hard on the real context. How, from the initial reflection matures “Urban Decay”, a “mini project of ephemeral art for the reanimation of small urban corners…”. This is how the creator, Tania Azzar, explains it, not new to incursions into the territory to leave a mark that is not only artistic but also invites reflection and, possibly, care for what surrounds each of us.
And so, as he did last year with “Underpass” in the railway underpasses between Pellaro, Bocale and Lazzaro – where the “sign” of street art left lasted so little that it did not fuel enough curiosity about the message he wanted to send -, the Italian-French artist who lives and works in “Bocalville”, his atelier overlooking the Strait where he paints, sculpts and creates copper jewelry, has crossed paths with a tarot reader. Who extracts the devil card, «card of negativity and energy stagnation, a reflection of persistent urban decadence. Many times this visual devastation does not even depend only on the administration – observes Azzar – but on us human beings who inhabit places. We inhabit them and make them become similar to us. The inner evil becomes matter and shows us its face. Inspiring muse ilaria@latarologa, they are nine tempera sketches that I painted with rough brushes like a quick sketch and cut out in sequence – explains the artist –. Then I went around gluing them (around Reggio, ed.) coming across memorable smells and visions…».
And in the very short video created ad hoc, and which is already circulating on social media with great appreciation, Tania takes us with her on her journey to revive degradation. Because «even difficult and dark places can regain their meaning through art», says someone who knows a thing or two about street art: her murals, both commissioned by the Metropolitan City and the result of calls for tenders from individual Municipalities or private assignments, are scattered between Sant’Alessio, San Giorgio Morgeto, Bova Marina, Motta – Lazzaro, San Lorenzo, San Procopio. In Gioia Tauro last year her mural dedicated to Giovanni Palatucci, former police commissioner of Fiume, who died in 1945 in the Dachau prison camp, Gold Medal for Civil Merit, recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” for having saved many foreign and Italian Jews from genocide, was inaugurated: a work commissioned by the Reggio Calabria Police Headquarters.
In our city, Tania Azzar also recently collaborated with the Milanese collective “Orticanoodles” to create the splendid and extensive mural at Parco Lineare Sud. Another place “in progress” that, although incomplete and “not inaugurated”, has a very high potential for the benefit not only of residents. But if fishing in the sewer (literally!) is passed off as an acceptable practice… “Urban Decay” through the beauty of art, ephemeral in this case but which nevertheless softens, wants to see and make people see the light at the end of the tunnel, that flash that shakes you and gives you hope.
«Peace and art to all» (Tania cit).