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MOSES / TAPS / EDWARD NIGHTINGALE

PERSONÆ NON GRATÆ

dal 1 marzo 2019

Note Biografiche

Da quando hanno dato vita al sodalizio artistico “Topsprayers” si sono resi protagonisti indiscussi della evoluzione del writing, una disciplina che i più ritenevano ormai statica e prigioniera delle sue stesse regole, non scritte, fin dalla metà degli anni ’70.
Restando fedeli alle superfici classiche, muri e treni, e senza scendere a compromessi commerciali, il duo ha, senza esagerare, cambiato le regole del gioco.
Partendo dal progetto ”International topsprayers” (1000 treni in 3 anni scambiandosi i nomi) e passando per gli “Splash” fino ad arrivare a “Corporate identity”, sono  stati in grado di entrare nella giurisprudenza (non è più possibile attribuire univocamente ad un singolo writer una specifica firma) scardinando il dogma secondo il quale writing significa necessariamente “lettere”. Risultati rivoluzionari dovuti ad una incredibile costanza e prolificità, oltre che alla sapiente gestione dei media. Dal 2014 Moses e Taps espongono le loro opere in gallerie e musei sia trasportando la loro ricerca su supporti classici, come tele e carte, sia attraverso la documentazione del lavoro realizzato nello spazio pubblico. Sono tra i più importanti artisti del panorama legato all’arte urbana a rivendicare l’utilizzo dei treni come supporto unico ed insostituibile per realizzare la loro arte.

 

Since they gave rise to the artistic association Topsprayer, the collective became the undisputed protagonist of the evolution of writing, a discipline that most people considered static and prisoner of its own unwritten rules, since the mid-70s.
Staying true to the classic surfaces, walls and trains, and without compromising, the collective became game changer, without fear of exaggeration.

Starting from the “International TopsprayerTM”1 project, passing through “Splash”, up to “Corporate Identity”, they were able to influence the jurisprudence2: it is no longer possible to univocally assign a specific signature to a single writer. And they have in this way undermined the dogma that writing necessarily means “letters”. Revolutionary results due to an incredible constancy and prolificity, as well as the wise management of social medias. Since 2014, Moses and Taps exhibit their works in galleries and museums, both carrying their research on classical supports, and through the documentation of works done in public spaces.

They are among the most important artists of the urban art scene to claim the use of trains as an ideal support for the realization of art works that could not exist elsewhere.
For Vicolo Folletto Art Factories Moses & Taps propose a video installation and a canvas. The installation refers to the circular process of making graffiti and their subsequent removal by the buff3, using spray paint first, and then a spatula to scrap it away4.

The series called “Scratchiti”, which the video belongs to, expresses the interaction between the process of realization of paintings and the one of their destruction; this ephemerality is then transferred to a classic medium, the canvas.
The works exhibited represent two different research moments: ephemeral works in the public space, which can be placed within the market and into institutional shows only through their documentation, and works on classic supports where the research carried out “outside” can be expressed without the work being subject to rapid destruction.

Note biografiche
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