Lorenzo Scotto di Luzio

Critical text

Lorenzo Scotto di Luzio (b. 1972, Pozzuoli) is a keen observer of our time and our society, of the small and great weaknesses of man. His approach is never aimed at criticism, but at a commentary, a poetic, often tragicomic depiction. Scotto di Luzio uses a vocabulary of forms ranging from current poses in social networks to observations from politics or society to images from art history or Italian popular culture. They are idiosyncratic portraits, caricatures of people composed of real people, historical figures or iconographic topoi: a skier in the Italian mountains who makes us think not only about the pleasures of a skiing vacation, but also about climate change and all the other difficulties that come with today’s “guilty pleasures”. The subtle humour in Scotto di Luzio’s work has been compared to that of the mime, whose slapstick actions break through the facade of the authoritarian. He puts language and its power relations in crisis, working with the function of the masquerade, confronting the hard themes of social stereotypes and contemporary clichés with irony and sarcasm. He exposes the moment when images undergo their ritualization and offers a respite by taking the feedback loop of communication with humour.

Text by Bettina Steinbrügge