Marco Lodola

Marco Lodola was born in Dorno, in the province of Pavia, on April 4, 1955. From an early age, he dedicated himself to art, studying first at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and then at the Milanese Academy. Starting in the 1980s, Marco Lodola joined the movement called New Futurism. New Futurism is seen as a continuation of Futurism, an artistic current that developed in the early years of the twentieth century and that emerged as a response to the trends of those years: the First World War, the socio-political changes, and technological developments that significantly influenced society and culture at that time. In this context, artists feel compelled to take a clear and unequivocal position by expressing their point of view on the context of their time. For Futurist artists, the events that affected not only Italy but also Europe made all those ideological foundations obsolete that had characterized the nineteenth century. Hence the need to progress, to move forward, to look to the future and not to be confined anymore to a past that has now passed away. Technological innovations and, in particular, the invention of the machine also support these changes. The machine, understood as a symbol of speed, fascinates artists who begin to create works that are primarily about speed. Speed, dynamism, progress, and the passage of time are therefore the salient features of Futurism. The New Futurism therefore follows in this vein, taking up the themes of Futurism and reworking them in a contemporary context. In particular, the artists focus their research on the concept of modernity and progress through the use of elements such as comics, advertising, and the mass media, as was already done by Pop artists, giving their works a often humorous and playful tone. Marco Lodola has also collaborated with major names in Italian music such as Max Pezzali and Gianluca Grignani, and with international brands such as Dior.