October 27th, 2015 – The Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco is opening once again to the public. And it does so in a big way: through art, music, poetry, all in the name of Italy. On Wednesday, October 28 at 6pm, the Palace Plaza Opera (Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Avenue, Suite F, San Francisco) officially becomes the new headquarters of Italian culture on the West Coast. “Now that we have finished moving into our new home – says the website of the IIC – we’d like to welcome everyone of you to the reopening ceremony and an exhibition of paintings (many never seen in public) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who has painted all his life but is best known as a poet, facilitator of the Beat movement and founder of the legendary City Lights Bookseller and Publishers,” which published the early literary works of the Beat Generation, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Organized by the IIC and the Consulate General of Italy, the event is an opportunity to discover a half Italian artist: his father emigrated from Brescia at the beginning of the 20th century. In the past six decades, Ferlinghetti has created more than 2,000 works of visual art, including lithographs, serigraphs, drawings and paintings, some of which have been exhibited in Italy on several occasions. “One of the main themes of the exhibition – underlines the Institute – is Ferlinghetti’s invention of the verb ‘fluxare’ or ‘to make love without touching’.” The selection is also inspired by Ferlinghetti’s deep European connections (who lived and studied in Paris). Many of his works pay homage to Picasso, Proust, Manet and Rodin. The exhibition will be on display until November 30 and tomorrow, at the inauguration, a musical show by the Merola Opera Program will celebrate the artist in style. (Red)
