Antonino D'Ambrosio
Encyclopedia
Antonino Pasquale D'Ambrosio (born June 23, 1971), is an Italian-American writer, filmmaker, producer, and visual artist. He is the founder and executive director of the independent media and production non-profit La Lutta NMC, Inc., based in New York and Rome. His current book is a collaboration with artist Shepard Fairey titled Mayday. Recently, D'Ambrosio Artist-In-Residence at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he launched the multi-media visual arts series La Terra Promessa. D'Ambrosio has also been honored as New York University’s Gallatin Lecturer, an honor bestowed upon a contemporary artist creating innovative and social engaging work. Acclaimed filmmaker Jim Jarmusch describes D'Ambrosio newest work A Heartbeat and A Guitar as “truly fascinating journey, charting the historical and social context of a courageous musical statement by one of our greatest rebel voices.” The late historian Howard Zinn describes the book as “an important contribution to the cultural history of our time.”. Musician Pete Seeger calls the book "a rare work that is beautiful and inspiring”
Both his upcoming film and book feature original art from Shepard Fairey
. Chuck D
of Public Enemy has described D'Ambrosio as "the voice of a new generation -- passionate, intelligent and fierce -- whose work educates and inspires."
He is also the editor and author of Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer, which was selected by PBS
as one of the top non-fiction books of 2005 and by Barnes & Noble as "Favorite Book."
He contributes to The Nation
, Monthly Review
, The Progressive
, The Believer
, SleptOn, The Rumpus, and other periodicals.
. The film has been screened around the world. In September 2008, it received a notice of cultural distinction in Vanity Fair.
As of January 2010, D'Ambrosio received support from Rob McKay of the McKay Foundation and Democracy Alliance for production of a documentary film
based on Let Fury Have the Hour chronicling the movement of world citizenship. The film has many musical contributions from artists including contributions Chuck D, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
, Ocote Soul Sounds, Sean Hayes, Tommy Guerrero, Boots Riley
, Tom Morello, Wayne Kramer, Billy Bragg and others..
D'Ambrosio's frequent collaborator artist Shepard Fairey created a series of murals inspired by D'Ambrosio film ''Let Fury Have the Hour. The mural series is titled "Mourning in America"
served as an adviser and honorary first board member during the early stages of the group's development. The Nation selected La Lutta NMC as one of the top 50 independent media groups in the country, and the New York Times described it as "bold [and] courageous... creating true democracy."
With La Lutta NMC, D'Ambrosio has produced a series of creative-activist events and performances including Speak the Words the Way You Breathe featuring the hip-hop group The Last Poets
.
''La Terra Promessa Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NMC April 2009
This Is A Movement (2003-04)
'Speak the Words the Way You Breathe' (1999-2003)
In 2009, D'Ambrosio was Artist-In-Residence at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, NM where he launched the multimedia land-art installation La Terra Promessa: In Sun & Shadow.
In 2008, D'Ambrosio was featured on "Clash: Revolution Rock," an hour-long radio show also featuring Tom Morello
of Rage Against the Machine
, writer Dave Marsh
, and filmmaker Julien Temple
.
In 2006, he became New York University
's Gallatin Lecturer, an honor bestowed upon a contemporary artist creating innovative and social engaging work.
In 2006 D'Ambrosio was invited to document the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign in Caracas, Venezuela at the World Social Forum
. His short film documenting the experience, In the Land of Bolivar, has been screened around the world. In 2005, D'Ambrosio was Artist-In-Residence in the Media Arts Department at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. He speaks extensively at universities and colleges throughout the country.
From 1999-2001, D'Ambrosio served as The Nation magazine's first Technology Coordinator, where he worked with then publisher Victor Navasky, editor Katrina vanden Heuvel
, and the magazine's contributors.
He is currently a member of the San Francisco Writers Grotto and the Brooklyn Writer's Space. The son of Italian immigrants from the small mountain village of Colli a Volturno
, D'Ambrosio was raised in Philadelphia, PA. In interviews and public appearances, D'Ambrosio has often said that his work is largely influenced by his experiences growing up in the Italian immigrant community in Philadelphia as well as his time spent as a boy working alongside his bricklayer father, Lorenzo, who died in 1988. D'Ambrosio has chronicled this experience in the upcoming short story "The Call" as well in a section of his book A Heartbeat and a Guitar. D'Ambrosio attended La Salle University
where he received a BA in 1993. In 1997, he received a Masters degree from New York University where he was a Dean's Scholar.
(2009). Best of The Progressive. Contributor
(2009). A Heartbeat and A Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears. (NY: Basic Books/Nation Books)
(2004). Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer. (NY: Avalon Press/Nation Books)
Writing
D'Ambrosio is the author of the 2009 book A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears. Legendary folk musician Pete Seeger describes the book as "a rare work that is beautiful and moving." A Heartbeat and a Guitar was chosen by The Philadelphia Inquirer as a "2009 Book of Note,", The Progressive "Favorite Book", The Boston Globe, among others.Both his upcoming film and book feature original art from Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
. Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
of Public Enemy has described D'Ambrosio as "the voice of a new generation -- passionate, intelligent and fierce -- whose work educates and inspires."
He is also the editor and author of Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer, which was selected by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
as one of the top non-fiction books of 2005 and by Barnes & Noble as "Favorite Book."
He contributes to The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, Monthly Review
Monthly Review
Monthly Review is an independent Marxist journal published 11 times per year in New York City.-History:The publication was founded by Harvard University economics instructor Paul Sweezy, who became the first editor...
, The Progressive
The Progressive
The Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
, The Believer
The Believer (magazine)
The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...
, SleptOn, The Rumpus, and other periodicals.
Film and Video
D'Ambrosio has produced more than 15 documentaries, films, videos, and visual art pieces. His recent film includes No Free Lunch starring Lewis BlackLewis Black
Lewis Niles Black is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena...
. The film has been screened around the world. In September 2008, it received a notice of cultural distinction in Vanity Fair.
As of January 2010, D'Ambrosio received support from Rob McKay of the McKay Foundation and Democracy Alliance for production of a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
based on Let Fury Have the Hour chronicling the movement of world citizenship. The film has many musical contributions from artists including contributions Chuck D, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Antibalas is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra...
, Ocote Soul Sounds, Sean Hayes, Tommy Guerrero, Boots Riley
Boots Riley
Boots Riley is an American musician, vocalist, writer, and public speaker most known for being the front man and producer of The Coup as well as the front man for Street Sweeper Social Club.-Biography:...
, Tom Morello, Wayne Kramer, Billy Bragg and others..
D'Ambrosio's frequent collaborator artist Shepard Fairey created a series of murals inspired by D'Ambrosio film ''Let Fury Have the Hour. The mural series is titled "Mourning in America"
La Lutta
In 1997 D'Ambrosio founded La Lutta New Media Collective, a non-profit social media and documentary production group. La Lutta NMC has worked with more than 800 groups around the world on various media projects, and maintains a membership of over 20,000. The late Neil PostmanNeil Postman
Neil Postman was an American author, media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known by the general public for his 1985 book about television, Amusing Ourselves to Death. For more than forty years, he was associated with New York University...
served as an adviser and honorary first board member during the early stages of the group's development. The Nation selected La Lutta NMC as one of the top 50 independent media groups in the country, and the New York Times described it as "bold [and] courageous... creating true democracy."
With La Lutta NMC, D'Ambrosio has produced a series of creative-activist events and performances including Speak the Words the Way You Breathe featuring the hip-hop group The Last Poets
The Last Poets
The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
.
Visual Art & Exhibitions
presented by Antonino D'Ambrosio and Shepard Fairey, Subliminal Art Project, Los Angeles, CA December 2009Other work
In 2010, artist Shepard Fairey invited D'Ambrosio to contribute the official essay for his solo-exhibit Mayday at the Deitch Projects in New York City. The essay, May Day Calling, is printed on the back of Fairey's signature "flag" print.http://obeygiant.com/headlines/may-day-callingIn 2009, D'Ambrosio was Artist-In-Residence at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, NM where he launched the multimedia land-art installation La Terra Promessa: In Sun & Shadow.
In 2008, D'Ambrosio was featured on "Clash: Revolution Rock," an hour-long radio show also featuring Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
of Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
, writer Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
, and filmmaker Julien Temple
Julien Temple
Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple...
.
In 2006, he became New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Gallatin Lecturer, an honor bestowed upon a contemporary artist creating innovative and social engaging work.
In 2006 D'Ambrosio was invited to document the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign in Caracas, Venezuela at the World Social Forum
World Social Forum
The World Social Forum is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemonic globalization...
. His short film documenting the experience, In the Land of Bolivar, has been screened around the world. In 2005, D'Ambrosio was Artist-In-Residence in the Media Arts Department at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. He speaks extensively at universities and colleges throughout the country.
From 1999-2001, D'Ambrosio served as The Nation magazine's first Technology Coordinator, where he worked with then publisher Victor Navasky, editor Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor, publisher, and part-owner of the magazine The Nation. She has been the magazine's editor since 1995. She is a frequent guest on numerous television programs...
, and the magazine's contributors.
He is currently a member of the San Francisco Writers Grotto and the Brooklyn Writer's Space. The son of Italian immigrants from the small mountain village of Colli a Volturno
Colli a Volturno
Colli a Volturno is a comune in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise, located about 45 km west of Campobasso and about 11 km west of Isernia...
, D'Ambrosio was raised in Philadelphia, PA. In interviews and public appearances, D'Ambrosio has often said that his work is largely influenced by his experiences growing up in the Italian immigrant community in Philadelphia as well as his time spent as a boy working alongside his bricklayer father, Lorenzo, who died in 1988. D'Ambrosio has chronicled this experience in the upcoming short story "The Call" as well in a section of his book A Heartbeat and a Guitar. D'Ambrosio attended La Salle University
La Salle University
La Salle University is a private, co-educational, Roman Catholic university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, the school was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. As of 2008 the school has approximately 7,554...
where he received a BA in 1993. In 1997, he received a Masters degree from New York University where he was a Dean's Scholar.
Books
"Mayday: The Art of Shepard Fairey'.Publisher
- Fever Pitch. Publisher. (2004–2005)
- DISPATCH On-Line Indy News Journal. Publisher (2001–2003)
Films
- Let Fury Have the Hour: The Clash's Permanent Revolution. (2009) Writer/Producer/Director. Executive Produced Tim Robbins, Producer AIM (Strategic partnership with Amnesty International)
- The Bending Cross. (2009). Producer/Director/Writer. 95 mins.
- Follow the Leader. (2009) Executive Producer. 90 mins.
- Making Waves, Breaking Walls: The Story of Radio Atlantis. A Project of La Lutta NMC's Youth-Artist-in-Residency Program. (2009) Executive Producer. 12 mins.
- No Free Lunch (starring Lewis Black). (2008). Producer/writer/director. 7 mins.
- Project 843: A Documentary Series on the cultural Impact of Central Park. (2007–present) Executive producer and supervising director.
- In the Land of Bolivar. (2006). Writer, producer, photographer, and director. 10 mins.
- Battlescars. (2006).Production Consultant. 30 mins.
- Freedom Demo: The RNC Counter Convention. (2004) Producer, photographer, and editor. 25 mins.
- Desaparecidos: Our History Oral History Project. (2004). Writer, producer, photographer, director and editor. 55 mins.
- One Judge, One Family. (2004). Writer, producer, photographer, director, and editor. 17 mins.
- The Treatment Court Story. (2002) Writer, producer, photographer, director, editor. 15 mins.
- The Contract and Beyond. New York City Transit Workers Move Forward. (2002)Writer, producer, photographer, director, and editor. 25 mins.
- Road to the Contract: New York City Transit Worker's Documentary Series
- Struggle for a New Contract. (2002) Writer, producer, photographer, director, and editor. 25 mins.
- Back in the Days: A Time before Crack. (2000) Writer, producer, photographer, director, and editor. 30 mins.
- Once there was a Village. (1999). Based on the book of the same name. Producer, photographer, director, and editor. 30 mins
- Welfare Reform: Rollback or Removal? (1996). Writer, producer, photographer, director, and editor. 30 mins.
Awards
- (2009) Artist-In-Residence. Center for Contemporary Arts. Santa Few, New Mexico
- (2008) Nation Institute Investigative Fund Award. Award to support investigative work on book project A Heartbeat and A Guitar
- (2006) New York University Gallatin Lecturer. An honor bestowed upon a contemporary artist creating innovative and socially engaging work.
- (2005) Artist-In-Residence, Long Island University Media Arts Department. An honor awarded to an artist producing dynamic and noteworthy new media.
- (2005) Top Non-Fiction Book Selections of 2005. Awarded by PBS to non-fiction writers who published work that could be used as an educational tool in the classroom.
- (2003) Digital-Artist-In-Residence (Given to La Lutta NMC). Awarded to emerging and established web artists working in the area of documenting the immigrant experience.
- (1999) Top Independent Media Makers. Awarded by The Nation readers to those individuals creating media that advances democracy.
- (1998) Community Service Award of Distinction. Awarded by the El Puente Center for Arts and Culture for support of youth-community public space mural initiative.
- (1998) Community Arts Grant. Awarded by the Manhattan Borough President's Office, New York City.
- (1995) Deans' Scholar. Awarded every 2 years to 20 New York University students demonstrating academic excellence, a strong social consciousness, and a vibrant creative sensibility.
External links
- Interview on WNYC Soundcheck, May 2011.
- Antonino D'Ambrosio and Shepard Fairey featured on GRITtv with Laura Flanders, May 2010.
- Antonino D'Ambrosio featured on GRITtv with Laura Flanders, November 2009.
- Antonino D'Ambrosio featured on The Clash: Revolution Rock, 2008.
- Interview of Antonino D'Ambrosio by Brian Lehrer, June 2008.
- Antonino D'Ambrosio Live from Praire Lights Books, February 2005.