Hitler után a második legnagyobb művész

by Massimiliano Parente

Poposabb, mint Andy Warhol, excentrikusabb, mint Salvador Dalí, zseniálisabb, mint Marcel Duchamp – Max Fontana, aki a kritikusok szerint „a világ legnagyobb festője”, véletlenül lett sikeres negyvenévesen, éppen azon a napon, amikor eldöntötte, hogy eldobja életét, mert csődtömegnek érzi magát. Akkor átalakul: zöld Hitler-frizurát, náci sapkát, Nike cipőt visel. Megközelíthetetlen, akár egy rocksztár, szeszélyes, mint egy hollywoodi díva, kellemetlen és provokatív, pusztán mert úgy tartja kedve, és odáig megy, hogy festői példaképeként Adolf Hitlert jelöli meg.
Ám van egy gyengéd oldala is: a kis Martina, az élettársa, aki siketnéma, és jelnyelvvel kommunikál.

Massimiliano Parente regénye olyan, mint korunk dadaista kiáltványa, szembe köpi az olvasót, és közben szeretné meghódítani is. Mária, aki úgy szüli meg éppen Jézust, mintha a gyermek fel lenne akasztva, a Hitler utolsó étkét ábrázoló paradicsomos ravioli, a szerelembeesést gátló gépezet – a főszereplő (fiktív vagy valóságos) művei mind arra szolgálnak, hogy gondolkodóba ejtsék az olvasót, hogy aki a kezébe veszi a könyvet, elmerengjen, hol is vannak az értékei, el kell-e fogadnia mindent, amit eddig az élettől tanult. Kinek-kinek lelke rajta...

387 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2014

About the author

Massimiliano Parente (Grosseto, 1970) è uno scrittore italiano. Si è laureato a Roma in storia dell’arte contemporanea con una tesi su Marcel Duchamp. Ha collaborato con quotidiani e riviste, dal settembre 2009 collabora in esclusiva per Il Giornale.
Ha pubblicato i romanzi: Incantata o no che fosse (1998), Mamma (2000), Canto della caduta (2003). In seguito ha iniziato la scrittura di una monumentale trilogia, diventata per molti lettori un libro di culto, formata dai romanzi La macinatrice (2005), Contronatura (2008), L’inumano (2012), e raccolta e pubblicata da La nave di Teseo in un volume unico con il titolo Trilogia dell’inumano (2017). Ha scritto i romanzi Il più grande artista del mondo dopo Adolf Hitler (2014), L’amore ai tempi di Batman (2016), il saggio sulla Recherche di Marcel Proust L’evidenza della cosa terribile (2010), i pamphlet La casta dei radical chic (2010) e, insieme a Vittorio Feltri, Il vero cafone (2017). Ad aprile del 2018 ha pubblicato il provocatorio saggio Scemocrazia – come difenderci dal pensiero comune. Nel 2018 ha pubblicato il romanzo Parente di Vasco e nel 2020 la raccolta Tre incredibili racconti erotici per ragazzi.

Reviews

[Gian Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favoloso, una splendida scoperta, tremendamente acuto, ferocemente divertente.

[EMILIO SCUTTI · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incubo letterario.

[Kuszma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha valakinek esetleg a borítón feszítő rózsaszín egyenruhás, merészen sminkelt Hitlerből nem esett volna le, most szólok: ez egy provokatív könyv. Az viszont nem feltétlenül derül ki a külcsínből, hogy mellékesen ez egy jó könyv is: intelligens, helyenként sziporkázóan vicces, és ha nem rest melléguglizni az ember, akkor számos érdekes információt talál benne a kortárs művészeti irányzatokról. Adott egy E/1-es, önreflektív elbeszélő – Max Fontana, a világ legnagyobb élő művésze, és emellett a földkerekség talán legtermékenyebb előítéletbányája –, aki a maga tenyérbemászó módján szívesen elmélkedik a világ folyásán, különösen a művészet mibenlétén. Ezek a monológok biztosítják, hogy a regény ne pusztán polgárt pukkasszon – a masszív provokatív hangütés tulajdonképpen csak elkerülhetetlen eszköz, ha olyan kulturális irányzatokról kell beszélnünk, amiknek része mondjuk ez is: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/m...… . Fontana (azaz Parente) abból a duschamp-i gondolatból indul ki, hogy bármi lehet művészet, amit a művész annak szán, és ezt a tézist viszi el egészen a falig, sőt a falon is túlra. Mert ha minden lehet művészet, és ezzel párhuzamosan a művészetnek önmagában nincs morális töltete, tehát az etika nem, legfeljebb az esztétika vizsgálhatja, akkor nincs jogalapunk elutasítani azt sem, hogy Hitler tetteit is műalkotásként vizsgáljuk. Max Fontana pontosan így tesz: számára Hitler személyiségének a lényegi aspektusa nem a diktátor (és nem is a náci – amely fogalmat Fontana amúgy sem igen érti), hanem a művész. Így lesz Lengyelország lerohanásából vagy épp a soából művészeti performance – ami természetesen groteszk végkimenet, de valahol a duschamp-i elvek szélsőséges alkalmazásából ez következik.

Másfelől Parente nagyon szellemesen játszik el a műalkotások értelmezhetőségének problematikájával, amikor könyvébe „behallatszik” a kritikusok hangja. Egyik fontos mellékszereplője Angelo Schopf, a baloldali kritikus, aki konzekvensen a fogyasztói társadalom kritikájaként értelmezi Fontana munkáit, a másik pedig Betty Beatrice, a jobboldali ítész, aki viszont állandóan a fogyasztói társadalom végső és logikus következményeként tekint rá – mondanom sem kell, Fontana az ilyen címkézési kísérleteket szánalmas baromságoknak tartja, és ezzel a véleményével speciel nehéz nem egyet érteni*. Ezzel a húzással az író megelőlegez két lehetséges kritikai hozzáállást ehhez a könyvhöz, és idejekorán le is lövi őket – így az olvasónak nincs más hátra, vadiúj megközelítést kell keresnie. Már ha egyáltalán igényli a megközelítéseket, és nem elégszik meg azzal, hogy élvezi a művet. Mert azt is lehet, élvezni – bár Parente szövege néhol döcögős**, néha pedig önismétlő, de alapvetően jó érzékkel dob be egy-egy road movie-blokkot, ha már elegünk kezd lenni a filozofálgatásból. És mindenekfelett: eredeti humorú, okos szöveg, amolyan szórakoztatva gondolkodtatós. Szerettem olvasni.

* A többivel meg felettébb nehéz egyetérteni…
** Nem tudtam megállapítani, hogy a helyenkénti mondattani körülményeskedések a fordítónak tudhatóak be, vagy egész egyszerűen Parente ilyennek szánta Fontanát.

[Dorottya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Rush 2019: book with 5 or more words in the title (both in the original title and HU translation)

I immensely enjoyed this novel. There are two kinds of 4 star books for me: objectively really good ones that missed some sort of spice, and the ones which I really enjoyed apart from a few minor things. This one is the latter.

I am pretty sure those who can get offended by hearing blasphemous and provocative things without even knowing the context, would not even pick this book up based on the title or the cover, but just a trigger warning: this novel contains heavy amounts of profanity, detailed description of sexual acts, shocking material, outrageous comments about sacred and/or heavily sensitive subjects (the Holocaust, Christianity, consumer culture, ethnic issues, revenge porn, violence).

I don't usually like outrageous or shocking writing for the sake of being shocking. But in this case, I felt that it was used in the right way, to show a person, a personality who would do and say such vile things for the sake of being shocking... or I don't even think the main character wanted to be shocking, he just wanted fame and being talked about. I think that aspect of his personality was beautifully executed. That he had such an obsession over staying in the limelight and being famous... I liked how he was also so obsessed with everything else he was doing (like his tropical flavored chewing gum), and how his obsessions and free time were mostly focused on superficial things and glorious things like TV shows and movies and creating an "image" for himself. I loved how all of his works were explained... kudos to the author for coming up so many crazy weird ideas.

I also liked how art critics were portrayed. I worked in a performing art-oriented place for quite a while, and my interest and fascination with that art form have never ceased so I keep on reading critiques and the behaviour of the critics I thought was SPOT ON. How they think they know everything about art and how they think they KNOW what the author wanted to tell the world with the art pieces and how they wanted to dig deeper and deeper and find really intricate explanations for it, together with 1233423 allusions to previously existing works (which are sometimes feeling like just them showing off their knowledge), or they just told "it is just to shock people" - all of them being totally wrong (some pieces made for hiding something Max made, some pieces being thrushed out to the world after Max using something and deciding "hey, I can earn some money out of it" - like his 200 wrapped pieces of already chewed gum", but most just made for him to stay relevant).

But also, the whole new art world was depicted really well... nowadays you can stay relevant with the audience and the art world if you are outrageous... and if you reach a certain status, you are going to be talked about and your exhibitions visited even if you do the vilest things ever.

I had some issues with the Martina plotline. The whole thing just did not feel right for the character, or I felt it was not explained well enough for me to believe it. I mean, I believed some parts of it (like how Max tried to push his own logic down others' throats regarding the Martina biting case or how the A-Team van was used to re-kidnap Martina), but not why this relationship / bond happened in the first place.

[Simone Conte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il piu' grande artista del mondo dopo Adolf Hitler e' la storia di Max Fontana, un'artista Italiano fortemente ispirato da Duchamp e grandissimo ammiratore di Hitler, anche se non per motivi nazisti o antisemiti. La figura di Max Fontana riflette molto quella dell'autore del libro, Max Parente, del suo essere sempre contro tutto e tutti. E perche' no: anche contro se stesso. L'unico punto fermo di Max e': Martina: sua unica vera amica, il cui amore trascende tutto.

Non essere offesi, almeno una volta, da questa lettura significherebbe non essere almeno un po' umani. Tuttavia, la consiglio vivamente. Lo stile di scrittura e' volgare, ma scorrevole, sempre sul pezzo, e mai annoiante. I temi trattati, se pur in modo provocatorio, vi lasceranno con tante domande, ma anche con un sorriso lungo lungo.

[Gaia · Rating 3 out of 5]

7!
Una dissacrante presa in giro del mondo dell'arte moderna e contemporanea nonché della nostra società.
L’idea è certamente potente e interessante, ma per come la storia si sviluppa e viene caricata di anedotti grotteschi risulta prolissa e ripetitiva.
Nella prima parte del libro ho apprezzato Il sarcasmo di Parente e mi sono divertita, nella seconda parte ho trovato un po’ forzata la continua lotta, per quattrocento pagine, al comune senso del politicamente corretto.
Max Fontana, l’artista, il protagonista, è spiazzante e provocatorio per il semplice gusto di esserlo.
« L’importante, se uno vuole avere successo, è assumere posizioni nette, le sfumature sono dei perdenti. »

[Federico Marchisio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A piercing and sharp critique of contemporary art, with ferocious, sometimes cruel diggs at the critics, the artists and the public.

It’s not an easy read to digest and it often left me in shock or rolling on the floor laughing. There is blasphemy, use of the n word, and deeply misogynistic comments.

The protagonist is modelled around the real-life artist max Papeschi, an over the top personality that defies the status quo in every possible way.

He commits an homicide and transforms it in a work of art. He pretends to be terminally ill to stop a girlfriend from breaking up with him. His only true friend is a monkey and the’ll share a terrible faith till the very end 🤯

[Simone Scardapane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comprato d'impulso, penso come molti, attirato dalla copertina e dal vago rapporto che mi lega all'arte contemporanea. L'idea di fondo è simpatica, se non troppo originale, ma passate le prime cento pagine il libro sembra non avere più nessun obiettivo. Si potrebbe riprendere verso metà, ma al posto di concludere la storia ci si protrae senza fine per altre duecento pagine di nulla.

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Quando dici a qualcuno che la gente è stupida […] nessuno si ritiene offeso pensando che la gente e gli stupidi siano sempre gli altri." (pp. 74, 75)

"Sentire battere il cuore di chi ami è veramente terribile. Ti fa pensare che tutto dipende da quel muscolo involontario." (p. 387)

[Roby Maranella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sono rimasta profondamente delusa pensavo meglio...

[Gennaro Duello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le cose tragiche succedono in un modo molto semplice. Io non so se Parente sia un genio, ma di certo non passa inosservato.

[Fabio Zacà · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divertente, irriverente e che fa riflettere

[robxyz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Per le prime duecento pagine è quasi una piacevole lettura, con alcuni momenti notevoli; da metà libro in avanti invece è un crollo drastico al limite del leggibile, pieno di ripetizioni e momenti in cui Parente sembra proprio essersi incartato in un brutto racconto tirato inutilmente per le lunghe. Autentica porcata.

[Armin Gyarmati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art and it's appreciation is a delicate topic, as you can hardly fit it into a sufficient and strict system or establish rules for it. Art, in my opinion is on one hand the sum of various aesthetic factors, which can to some extent be described and appraised. On the other hand, however, are the internal processes of the artist and their broader context that determine the outcome, which if showing absolute respect to the subjective experience can hardly be understood in their full extent, stripping the observer or critique from the ability to make an adequate judgment.

There is imho intention, creation, reception and interpretation, which though for sure share a common ground, will never be homogenous. How does anyone, without being able to grasp the complex background of so-called art piece, feel entitled to say that something is and another thing isn't art?

Parente bases his story and the actions of his fairly controversial character, Max Fontana, on the duschampian idea that anything can be art. There is no system, rule of thumb, or moral code to compare a piece to. Art is independent, in fact so much that even the scourge of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler can be (and was in fact) an artist.

On the other hand, there is the contemporary appreciation of art, that doesn't necessarily share the same belief and changes periodically. Parente, just like Hitler before committing genocide, have been rejected. Later on though, Parente becomes an acknowledged artist in a seemingly arbitrary way. After that, for critiques to be consistent I guess, every more and more blasphemous, outrageous and inconceivable piece he produces is deemed as art, unleashing a subjective horror on the world with swastikas and murder art.

The book crafts a sharp critique of the contemporary art world, introducing the critiques to their own incompetencies and making a joke out of them. Fontana then becomes basically immortal, allowing us to witness his fcked up evolution as he contemplates the ways of the world, often providing clever and sometimes depressive conclusions, that however still remain tainted by far stretched, distorted cognitive processes giving birth to a madman, a junkie of the appreciation of millions of strangers.

After reading the book it seems to me that everything has an artistic interpretation. Anyone trying to act like they have tapped into some supreme understanding of art are simply people afraid of missing out and of being ignorant, ending up with the exact results, paradoxically.

The story paints a very complex and interesting character, with pages making you shiver from disgust or roll on the floor from laughing, while making you think and reflect. It needs a stomach for sure, but if you have it you're in for a most unique and controversial trip.