Fire! Fire! by Enrico Baj
Artist, Painter, Sculptor, Printmaker, Collagist, Draftsman, and Author.
Baj was born on October 31, 1924 in Milan, Italy. Throughout his life he was interested in the fusion of art and science as well as criticizing authorities over both. Fire! Fire! is a part of the Movimento Arte Nucleare or “art for the nuclear age” movement that Baj was a founder of. The Movimento Arte Nucleare including artist Sergio Dangelo, published a “Manifesto of Nuclear Painting” in which Baj contributed new ideas of science and philosophy. They cautioned against the potential risks stemming from the misuse of nuclear technology, all the while acknowledging the necessity to reimagine the art of painting within the era of atomic advancements. Over the following years, the group delved into the concept of boundless advancement in nuclear capabilities and the looming threat of worldwide devastation. He passed away on June 16, 2003 in Italy.Click here to see the original image of Fire! Fire! at the Tate Gallery website.
What Informed this Artwork?
Fire! Fire! was created during 1963-1964 by Enrico Baj. Baj uses childlike simplicity which is in agreement with his later connections to the CoBrA movement that sought to bring back childlike freedom to art. Baj also played on the idea of simplifying down messaging to symbols. Additionally, he was a member of the Dada, Mouvement International pour une Bauhaus Imaginiste (MIBI), and Surrealist movements which shows his refusal to conform to the rules of one system. This echo of anarchy is prominent throughout his life as he objected to serving in the army under Mussolini and used his art early on to comment on the rise of fascism in his country.Furthermore, the tensions of the Cold War fueled a connection between creativity and scientific innovation. Messaging was intertwined with physical images and depictions in campaigns to support nuclear projects. Baj was classically trained and capable of creating replicas of Renaissance masters such as Leonardo. However, his background, which includes an education on previous movements, shows that his rejection is intentionally outright and serves to push art in a different direction. childlike simplicity which is in agreement to his later connections to the CoBrA movement that sought to bring back childlike freedom to art. Baj also played on the idea of simplifying down messaging to symbols. Additionally, he was a member of the Dada, Mouvement International pour une Bauhaus Imaginiste (MIBI), and Surrealist movements which shows his refusal to conform to the rules of one system. This echo of anarchy is prominent throughout his life as he objected to serving in the army under Mussolini and also used his art early on to comment on the rise of fascism in his country.
Listen to the episode "Fire! Fire! by Enrico Baj - with Rickie Martin” on the Art Detective podcast.
Art for the Nuclear Age
Fire! Fire! is a mixed medium artwork. It includes oil paint, woven fabric, and Meccano toy pieces. It measures 1460 × 1132 × 95mm. The large-scale places Baj’s social commentary at the forefront of his work which is in line with his tendency to make bold statements known to the audience.
The figure of frustration in Fire! Fire! does not take itself too seriously (Martin minute 18:00). At first glance the piece may catch a viewer off guard because it plays with childlike elements that provide a certain amount of deception. These elements include complementary colors, the Meccano pieces, and the simplistic artistic elements such as the dark outline around the figure. However, in a close study of Fire! Fire! the commentary on the exploitation of nuclear energy can be directly connected to the blend of organic qualities that flow with angular structural elements within.
In the painting he includes Meccano pieces to create structure in the upper body and eyes. Meccano pieces include a rubber wheel and pieces to create a clockwork like fixture on the left eye. The use of Meccano pieces from a building set is childlike but serves to have the eyes jump out. It is unsettling and surreal as emphasized by the red coloring and clockwork looking similar to a bomb going off (Martin minute 17:00). The red paint around the eyes signals to the audience the imminent threat of nuclear possibilities in warfare. The Meccano pieces carry a level of innocence that serve as a commentary on the impacts of nuclear energy. Baj considers the danger of nuclear energy towards innocent groups such as children in his previous artworks. Fire! Fire! reflects on how innocent nuclear energy was presented as a positive contribution and accomplishment to the world by the scientific community.
“The chaos of Nuclear war is exploding on the canvas.” (Ramirez, minute 8:20)
Complementary colors are also used throughout the work. The complementary colors sit comfortably with the trend of pop colors during the 1960s. The figure looks like it might have started as a doodle on a page, but the artistic choices depict live emotions that seem to be screaming out with the figure (Martin minute 5:30). The figure has an expression of barred white teeth and a burst of red in its lower portion like flames licking its body. The background, which is a textile, shows muted leaves and greenery. The contrast is not only between the colors of the figure and background but also what is being depicted in each. The figure has a note of aggression as noted by its expression of bared teeth which emphasizes animalistic elements arising from the natural world. The tone of this subversion is best described by Dr. Janina Ramirez in her episode “Fire! Fire! by Enrico Baj - with Rickie Martin” on the Art Detective podcast. “It is aggressive, but almost like an itch that needs to be scratched” (Ramirez minute 2:33). With simplistic elements being used so dramatically, there is a constant explosion of content within the work.In his “Manifesto of Nuclear Painting,” Baj calls for a disintegration of art forms. Baj felt a need to have innovations in art in conjunction with the rise of nuclear energy. According to the Tate Gallery, he likened the emulsions of enamel paint and distilled water he used in the late 1950s to "heavy water." Baj used the variation on oil painting to fill in the background of the figure’s body. This continued to create high levels of contrast in the painting. Furthermore, the figure is outlined by a dark black line that draws it out of the heavier woven background. It serves to provide relief and shows that the figure may come from the natural world but is a creation that is separate from its origins (Martin minute 16:46). Similarly, it likens itself to the idea that the atomic bomb is a creation separate from the atom which is involved in the origin of living beings. Atomic structures and the depiction of human beings stem from an understanding of the natural world. Through the manipulation of human innovation whether for nuclear warfare or new art movements certain elements like aggression can be pulled out to cause audiences to emote.
These sentiments—aggression, fear, and even humor—helped both counter and support nuclear energy. Likewise, Baj’s contribution to the Movimento Arte Nucleare centered on a fascination around the atom. There was a resounding belief that the development of nuclear energy would reveal a truth in art. Both energy and art were situated to be subverted. The artists in the Movimento Arte Nucleare used simplistic artistic elements in their composition to reflect the fear of nuclear conflict in light of events such as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The connection to bombings in Japan was also important in influencing Baj’s thoughts on nuclear power considering his previous rejection to serve in Italy during the war. In 1951 he painted a work titled Little Boy after a bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The childlike and humorous elements when addressing nuclear warfare are a thread in his work from the 1950s-1960s. It is subversion that Baj deems necessary to address a new era of energy exploitation and also to express public sentiments of fear and wonder on the future of the natural world.
“As his writings and public statements attest, the nuclear age for Baj meant living on a knife- edge, keeping a delicate balance between the hopes of unlimited scientific progress and the risks of total destruction brought on by man’s innate aggressiveness and stupidity.” (Taylor 5)
Baj also explored other modes of expressing his curiosity of the scientific developments during the Cold War. He was fascinated with pataphysics, which explores hypothetical phenomena existing beyond metaphysics. The discipline concentrates on imaginative solutions and concepts.
“All forms disintegrate.” (Baj and Dangelo, 1952)Final Thoughts
Fire! Fire! is one example of the many contributions Baj made to the intersection of nuclear ideology and art. The Movimento Arte Nucleare was in conjunction with a general sentiment to comment on nuclear energy innovation at the time. However, unlike other artists across many mediums such as Joe Colombo, a designer who created furniture designs inspired by aspirations of an ultra modern future propelled by nuclear power, Baj’s work does not shy away from doubting nuclear energy. There is a warning in his art of the inherent danger of manipulating the atom, a natural element that all living things share.
Bibliography
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“Enrico Baj: Artist: Peggy Guggenheim Collection.” Artist | Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/art/artists/enrico-baj/.
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Enrico Baj | Moma, Museum of Modern Art , www.moma.org/artists/292.
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Pava. 12 - ITALY - Tube Chair Flexform - brown bicolor armchair Triennale Design Museum - Joe Colombo. 18 Dec. 2012. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22_12_-_ITALY_-_Tube_Chair_Flexform_-_brown_bicolor_armchair_Triennale_Design_Museum_-_Joe_Colombo.JPG.
Monti, Paolo. Servizio fotografico. 8 Apr. 2016. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paolo_Monti_-_Servizio_fotografico_-_BEIC_6342547.jpg.
Ramirez, Janina, host. “Fire! Fire! by Enrico Baj - with Rickie Martin.” Art Detective, Acast, March 15 2017, https://shows.acast.com/artdetective/episodes/fire-fire-byenricobaj-withrickiemartin.
Tate. “Arte Nucleare.” Tate, Tate Institution, www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/arte-nucleare.
Tate. “‘Fire! Fire!’, Enrico Baj, 1963–4.” Tate, Tate Institution , Nov. 2021, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/baj-fire-fire-t01777.
Taylor, Michael R. "God and the Atom: Salvador Dalí’s Mystical Manifesto and the Contested Origins of Nuclear Painting." (2007).
Totaro, Nicoletta. “Movimento Nucleare, Una Tendenza Tutta Italiana.” Villegiardini, Villegiardini, 16 Jan. 2023, www.villegiardini.it/movimento-nucleare-tendenza-tutta-italiana/.
“Ulan Full Record Display (Getty Research).” The Getty, The J. Paul Getty Trust, 2004, vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500030098.
Unknown. Naples Fascist rally on 24 October 1922 . 28 Oct. 2017. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Naples_Fascist_rally_on_24_October_1922_(2).jpg.
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