In Genoa, an exhibition inspired by a famous song by Lou Reed: Perfect Day

Opening Thursday, September 5, 2019, at the Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa is the contemporary art group show Perfect Day curated by Benedetta Spagnuolo and organized by Artisti Italiani-visual arts and promotion. Works of photography, painting and illustration find their place within the walls of this ancient building wrapped in a large glass and steel shell facing the sea. The exhibition will be open daily until Sept. 12.

The participating artists are inspired by the iconic song of the same name written by U.S. musician Lou Reed from the 1972 album Transformer, which gives the theme of the collective; its words accompany us between past, present and future, and the “perfect day” becomes what one remembers, what is happening or simply what we wish would happen: a memory, a present moment or a wish.

The most characteristic feature of this song lies precisely in its ambiguity of meaning.

Lou Reed declared to a journalist, “You can’t ask me to explain the lyrics, because I won’t,” and so since then there have been various interpretations given to this song, one of which reports that the singer wrote it after a day in Central Park with Bettye Kronstad, then his girlfriend and later to become his wife.

Perfect Day actually seems to be a true act of self-accusation, which can be evinced in the very last words of the song, repeated several times: “You’re going to reap just what you sow” (“You’re going to reap just what you sow”).

The song opens with the image of a park, a place where usually two lovers spend time, the lyrics always continue with enjoying the days, such as drinking wine or going to the zoo; the simplicity of living the 24 hours carefree are given by someone or something that makes the author happy, it seems that he in engaging in these activities, despite the apparent carefree, feels almost no emotion, as if everything is lived aseptically. What makes him “go on” is not the serenity of the day spent, but what makes the day perfect is someone or something, a living or imaginary entity.

The refrain begins to decry the perfect day (“oh, it’s such a perfect day”), where the protagonist is happy to be spending with someone (“I’m glad I’m spending with you”) or rather with what keeps him going (“you just keep me hanging on”).

The reason for his seeming serenity is so powerful that he forgets himself (“you made me forget myself”) and when he says, “Just a perfect day, it made me forget myself, I thought I was someone else, a better person...,” he is simultaneously grateful, happy, melancholy, but he is also sad because he is aware that he is not him perfect, but perfect the day that made him so.

Perfect Day is not only a hymn to a happy day, but it is a symptom of gratitude to someone or something, an acknowledgement or dedication to those who made a moment important, whether it is a person, a symbol, an object, or simply ourselves.

In this group show, the venue also plays an important role in the project, and for this occasion the “Galleria delle Esposizioni” at the Galata Museo del Mare, a “white cube,” an aseptic container that highlights the work with neutrality, was chosen; here the dialogue between past and present, between history and contemporaneity are, together with the strategic central location of the Museum, added values to the entire project.

Participating artists: Daniele Amelio, Emanuela Bava, BaX, Giorgia Bianchettin, Giusy Burdi, Lorella Cerquetti, Chiara Cinquemani, Paolo Frigo, Barbara Gatti Cocci, Daniela Giuliani, Elena Grandi, Chiara Guidotto, Michela Menon, Valerio Murri, Letizia Neri, Federico Pisciotta, Valentina Porcelli, Verdiana Ranieri, Giovanna Sposato, Lisa Yachia.

For all information you can visit www.artistiitaliani.eu.

In Genoa, an exhibition inspired by a famous song by Lou Reed: Perfect Day

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