According to Italian artist Walter Bortolossi, all that happened had to happen.
Bortolossi, a world-renowned painter for his post-pop style, held a lecture in the Design Building on Wednesday night for University students.
He is also holding his first solo exhibition in North America in the Alfred C. Glassell Exhibition Gallery at the Shaw Center for the Arts. The exhibition, titled “All That Happened Had to Happen,” will be in the Glassell Gallery until March 27.
Bortolossi’s presentation showed students images of 15 of his works dated from 1990 to 2010 and offered explanations.
His works, which are often described as “kaleidoscopic compositions,” address current issues and aspects of the modern world, like new technologies and scientific advances.
“New media and technologies create new equilibriums and disequilibriums,” Bortolossi said. “The desire to resist their deterministic features has become a prominent feature of my work.”
Bortolossi said he aims to comment on the transformation of scientific texts through the presentation of images in his artwork.
“My goal is to connect objectivity with subjectivity,” Bortolossi said.
His collage-like paintings combine current events and happenings of the past.
For example, the final piece he showed and the namesake of his exhibition combined images of the Great Depression with images including President Barack Obama. Bortolossi said this painting “endorses the idea of the progress of history.”
Kristin Malia Krolak, Glassell Gallery coordinator, advised University students to visit Bortolossi’s exhibit because “it’s about their world.”
“There are references to topics going on in politics and pop culture, and he makes statements about consumerism and mass marketing,” Krolak said.
Krolak also said the exhibit is a good opportunity for students to broaden their worldviews and see examples of contemporary art from other parts of the world.
Lauren Hegge, photography graduate student, visited Bortolossi’s exhibition and said it was one of the best shows she had seen at Glassell Gallery.
“It’s definitely worth checking out,” Hegge said.
Hegge also said Bortolossi’s works are interesting because of the direct references he makes to contemporary issues.
Raina Wirta, sculpture graduate student, said the content in Bortolossi’s paintings is “influential” to artists because of the collage painting approach he employs.
“The images speak for themselves,” Wirta said.
Bortolossi’s week-long stay in Baton Rouge will end after an artist’s reception on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center.
 
—-
Contact Emily Herrington at [email protected]