David Dalla Venezia Part 2

I didn't intend to create a second post on the same artist but as it turned out, I asked for permission to write about the artist's work and he replied to me.

Except for the fact I butchered his name which I corrected since and profusely apologised for, he also dropped me a link to an article on the artistic work he did for the Luise hotel in Berlin on the theme of Dangerous Books.

As you know, books being a subject close to me, I read the article and found it very inspiring.

As the article explained books are our safety net. But they are much more than that. They are the balance that guide us on our spiritual journey so we can sail from a difficult past to a better present, so we can choose to prevail over our human nature, so we choose between good versus evil, between freedom and repression, between love and hate.

Yes I believe books are as close as magic. It transports us to a land of understanding or escape, peace and beauty.

If you have clicked on the previous post you will have noticed that a lot of Mr Dalla Venezia's paintings have an abundance of red books with white pages—red like the embers that glow within and white cleansed by time and as pure as that which is to come—

I really liked that analogy.
However I believe the opposite could be very true too.

Aren't they the pages which are bleeding out of their content for us while their covers get tormented by us through traveling and packing and unpacking?

Or could it not be that the pages were red from the writer pouring out his soul on his reader?

Anyway, to go back to his work, in the room the artist has chosen a selection of books  for guests to read. Dating from different periods these are books that search for moments of freedom and truth throughout the course of history.

Titling his work Dangerous Books, David Dalla Venezia honors the fearlessness of his countryman Roberto Saviano, an author who has dedicated his life to disseminating “dangerous books” and who for this reason now lives in constant danger.

I didn't know who was Mr Saviano so I did my homework and in 2006, Mr Saviano wrote a non-fiction book called Gomorrah, which denounces the activities of the Camorra, one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, going back to the 18th century.

So hence the title dangerous books. We have come to a full circle. 

Link to the article:

http://www.luise-berlin.com/rooms/suites-with-bathtub/david-dalla-venezia-dangerous-books/?L=1