Alfred Breitman

Infobox Artist
name = Alfred Breitman


imagesize = 230px
caption = Portrait of "Alfred Breitman" by Gregory Corso (1986)
birthdate = Late 1950s
location = flagicon|Italy Italy
field = Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Engraving, Ceramics, Land Art, Video Art, Performances, Filmmaking, Literature
movement = Pop Art
works = " [http://www.gilad.co.uk/html%20files/selfhatersunite.htm/ American Flag] "

Alfred Breitman is an Italian artist of Jewish origin, born in the late 1950s. He has put on shows and performances in Italy and abroad covering pop art, conceptualism, video installations, land art, comic book design, advertising and photography, as well as painting and traditional engraving.

Biography

In 1975 the painter Mario Schifano introduced Breitman to the American artist Andy Warhol in Milan. During a brainstorming session with other young artists, the "Pop Art Crisis" project was conceived, which proposed inserting cultural and social values into pop imagery. Breitman has often worked with the marketing departments of major firms, creating pop images capable of reaching the public, not only in art galleries, but also from shop windows and through major retailers. Gatto cinese (Chinese Cat) and Slot Machines for Hoover; Stelle Virtuali (Virtual Stars) for IBM; Icone Pop (Pop Icons) for Schering-Plough etc. In the 1980s he met the master of graffiti art Keith Haring at Fiorucci in Milan and created with him a series of "Surfers", continuing with the project of restoring to art its role as an example for society. Again in the 1980s Breitman came up with a new notion in performance art, convincing a number of famous poets (among them Gregory Corso and Dario Bellezza) to create graphic images. This led to the creation of contemporary works like Gatto Beat (Beat Cat) and Scatola della Poesia (Poetry Box).

The Pop Art Crisis

In the 1980s and 1990s Breitman continued the "Andy Warhol and I: the Pop Art Crisis" project, creating powerful and sometimes upsetting images, images that were linked to minorities and human rights. Breitman’s works seek to inspire the public to oppose discrimination. Some of the artist’s output touches on delicate subjects such as racism, homophobia, war and pollution.

Alfred Breitman has been involved in making films and documentaries. He created the series "Il genio in 100 ritratti" (“A Hundred Portraits Of Genius”), in celebration of the artists who changed the course of art history. He was the first land artist to bring crop circles to Italy, creating a number of examples of the form invented by the British artists Doug & Dave. He has collaborated with well-known circle makers from the UK. He was one of the earliest artists to display and sell his works on the internet, by means of virtual galleries. A peace artist, Breitman was the last Western artist invited to put on a show in Iran, prior to 9/11. The show, which centred on peace, was cancelled following the attack on the World Trade Center. Breitman was among the first artists to take part in the famous show "Self-Haters Unite!" against historical revisionism and anti-Semitism. He is involved in the discovery and recovery of artists from oppressed peoples throughout history.

Exhibitions

* 1976 - "Mices on the Moon", Istituto d'Arte e Cultura, Milan (Italy)
* 1979 - "Andy Warhol and I . The Pop Art Crisis", Centro Cultura e Arte Contemporanea, Milan (Italy)
* 1984 - "Giorni d'orgoglio", Il Cassero, Bologna (Italy)
* 1986 - "Pace nel Golfo", Petrofil Gallery, Milan (Italy)
* 1987 - "Andy Warhol and I. The Pop Art Crisis", Kunst Galerie, Berlin (Germany)
* 1988 - "Chinese Cat", Hoover Usa, Uk and Italy
* 1988 - "The genius. 100 portraits", Schering-Plough, Milan (Italy)
* 1992 - "Animal Death Camps", Municipal Hall, Brescia (Italy)
* 1999 - "Quezcoatl", crop circle, Alton Priors (UK)
* 2001 - Alfred Breitman & Rami Lavitzky, "Homo Dolens", Pinakos, Milan (Italy)
* 2004 - "Dipingere l'Olocausto", Municipal Hall, Pitigliano (Italy)
* 2004 - "Platform 21 - Rabbi Akiva Installation", Pitigliano (Italy)
* 2005 - "Oblique Reproductions - From Klee to Basquiat", Digital photos, Studio d'Arte Cassina, Milan (Italy)
* 2006 - "American Flag", Self Haters-Unite! (Boomka.org), Israel
* 2007 - "Anne in the sky", Hilo Art Museum, Hawaii (Usa)

Interviews and articles

* [http://www.annesdoor.com/ "Vade Retro. Art and Homosexuality"]
* [http://www.annesdoor.com/ Art of the Holocaust]
* [http://www.annesdoor.com/ 14 giugno 1940: Auschwitz riceve i primi internati] : June 14 1940: the first internees arrive in Auschwitz
* [http://www.annesdoor.com/ Anne Frank in the Art]
* [http://www.animwatch.com/Spotlight-Luovo.php/ Art critic on L'uovo]
* [http://www.annesdoor.com/ Dal pregiudizio al Pogrom: l'itinerario dell'Odio] : From Prejudice to the Pogrom: the hate itinerary.
* [http://www.visions.it/arteculturadue.html Eldorado new opening] : Interview to Steed Gamero.

* The Pop Art Crisis, in "Specchio Medico", Milano 1985
* Andy Warhol and the Art SuperMarket, in "Specchio Medico Informa", Milano 1985
* The Great Pianist, in "Specchio Medico", Milano 1985
* Francis Bacon: the body as metaphor of the universe, in "Specchio Medico Informa", Milano 1985

Theories

* [http://www.visions.it/additivovotre.html Universal Life]
* [http://www.visions.it/additivovodue.html Nazioni-aziende] : Nations - Corporations.
* The Pop Art evolution (conversation with Andy Warhol), "Specchio Medico", Milano 1986
* Crop circles, eccentric Land Art artworks (UFO, il Dizionario Enciclopedico), Firenze 2003

Links

* [http://www.annesdoor.com/ annesdoor.com]
* [http://www.gilad.co.uk/html%20files/selfhatersunite.htm gilad.co.uk]
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon05012006.html counterpunch.org]
* [http://www.nationalanarchismus.org/Nationalanarchismus/26_kampf/gilad_atzmon_juedischer_selbst/gilad_atzmon_juedischer_selbst.html nationalanarchismus.org]
* [http://www.comedonchisciotte.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215 comedonchisciotte.net/]
* [http://www.visions.it visions.it]
* [http://www.parlando.it/chisiamo.htm parlando.it]
* [http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?lg=fr&reference=1103 tlaxcala.es]
* [http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=609&lg=es tlaxcala.es]
* [http://marseille.indymedia.org/news/2006/11/7202_comment.php marseille.indymedia.org]
* [http://tubious.com/alfred-breitman]