Franko B: Blinded by Love

by Achille Bonito Oliva

Blinded by Love covers 15 years of work by Franko B, a body-art performer whose portfolio includes video, photography, performance, painting, installation, sculpture and mixed media. Frankio B is perhaps most famous for performances in which he bleeds, a line of work he has recently decided to discontinue as he turns to painting and sculpture. Blinded by Love surveys his career at that crucial turning point, from his first paintings and objets trouvés to performances in which his own flesh becomes the canvas. Essayists here include Ron Athey, the visual/body artist and journalist; Vaginal Davis, queer icon and proclaimed "cultural antagonist"; and curators and professors from the U.S., the UK and Italy. Franko B was born in Milan in 1960 and has lived in London since 1979. He has performed at Tate Modern and at similar venues in Milan, Amsterdam, Madrid and Vienna, among other cities. He lectures widely and has spoken at schools including New York University and St. Martin's School of Art. His recent projects include a mentoring scheme for young artists, at www.franko-bmentoring.co.uk.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Achille Bonito Oliva is an Italian art critic and historian of contemporary art. Since 1968 he has taught history of contemporary art at La Sapienza, the university of Rome. He has written extensively on contemporary art and contemporary artists. He originated the term Transavanguardia to describe the new direction taken in the late 1970s by artists such as Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola De Maria, and Mimmo Paladino. He has organised or curated numerous contemporary art events and exhibitions; in 1993 he was artistic director of the Biennale di Venezia.