Friday, April 13, 2007
A man with a plan to preserve all things Italian
Published on 1998-11-11, Page B02, Philadelphia Inquirer
JOHNNY AIELLO KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS HERITAGE. HIS ADVERTISEMENTS ARE HELPING HIM SPREAD THE WORD.
Lini S. Kadaba, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Johnny Aiello has a point to make, and he needs at least two hours to make it. If you can't spare the time, then forgetaboutit. He has already waited more than two decades for the world to catch up to him. ``I'm a professional Italian,'' said the local ad man, as he kicked off his sales pitch. The ``pro'' is a third-generation Italian American with roots in Calabria, and he wants to save the 3,000-year-old Italian culture. How? Aiello is writing a book, designing a grand plan (in need of $5 billion), and creating ads with a decidedly Italian flavor. ``This is actually quite gigantic,'' said the South Philly transplant to Oreland, Montgomery County.
Part sociologist, part carnival barker, Aiello, 55, laments an Italian ``diaspora'' that, in his opinion, has little knowledge of its rich history. Over the last 25 years, he has worked to change that, sculpting a vision with the painstaking care of a Michelangelo over David. Aiello has dreamed up a state-of-the-art technology and cultural center, where Italians around the world would come together to study art, literature and science in the mountains of his ancestral land. The center, he believes, would make Italy the focus of the Italian diaspora, revitalizing its links to the old country - a model, he points out, that could work for any culture.
So Aiello has sketches ready in case il primo ministro should call with the $5 billion he expects the operation to cost. That's the future. Meanwhile, he's banking on this book (The Modern Global Italian Empire), which, if he can find a publisher, would summarize the essentials of Italian culture, from the Roman empire and the rise of Catholicism to the Renaissance and the dispersion of Italians around the globe.
And he is creating advertisements, for a fee, of course. But the one-time art teacher and former cafe owner isn't just hawking Italian lawyers, Italian mechanics or even Italian matchmakers for a mere buck or two. He says he is sending a message, that what Italians may do today - from dentistry to hairstyling - has connections to a culture that spans three millennia. Some of the ads, appearing in Philadelphia Magazine and other publications, feature pictures of people from various walks of life with one thing in common. They're Italian.
The current series features portraits of lawyers, politicians, contractors, engineers, mechanics and more, complete with phone numbers and addresses, under the headline: Italian Problem Solvers. That's the advertisement. But Aiello's design also includes a quote attributed to Horace, the Roman poet and philosopher: ``People may change the sky above their heads when they cross the ocean but not their spirit.'' That's the cultural lesson, Aiello-style. ``I try to lift the bar by having intelligent things in there,'' he said.
Samuel D. Costanzo, an engineer, principal at Van Cleef Engineering Associates in Doylestown, and third-generation Italian American, was one of those featured in the ad. ``It's something that appeals to me,'' he said. ``I'm 100 percent Italian. I identify with my culture.''
Vincent Genovese, chairman of the Alliance of Italian-American Associations, also applauded what Aiello is trying to do. ``Johnny, through the ads, does confirm the Italian culture,'' he said. Exactly. Aiello, a crew-cut man who wears jeans and a black T-shirt topped with an open shirt, has an artsy look befitting a University of the Arts graduate.``The world didn't need another artist,'' he said, so he put his artwork - paintings and table sculptures - on hold while he pursues his book and other cultural projects.
Aiello flipped through his portfolio of ads, about 20 years old. Hairstyles have changed but not his message. ``My grandmother took a boat ride 60 years ago,'' he said. That didn't mean her culture - its customs and ways - ``just kind of evaporated.'' Aiello wasn't always so culturally astute.
``I just grew up an Italian,'' he said. When he left the old neighborhood in 1960, he realized that corporate success demanded assimilation. He could live with that. But first, he said, he wanted to make sure he knew what he was giving up. What exactly is an Italian? So began his search for identity. ``The culture was better than ever,'' Aiello said, a view he reached after much reading, many conversations with Italians, and a trip to the old country. He was determined to showcase it. Aiello headed the Italian American Bicentennial celebration in Philadelphia, and in 1978, he opened Caffe sud, a European-style restaurant and gathering spot on South Street. His foray into cultural ads began out of necessity. He couldn't afford publicity for the cafe, so he and his Italian business friends pooled money and placed a group photo, which included a smiling Aiello, under the headline: The Philadelphia Italians!
The ad spawned enough interest that Aiello started producing more ads that touted the Italian connection. And to prove his model could work for any culture, he also designed cultural ads for other groups, including Jews, Irish, Greeks and African Americans. After a 10-year hiatus to research more about his heritage, he revived the ads in 1995 under Aiello Cultural Productions. One has a tilted group photo a la the famed Pisa tower with a reference to the Leaning Tower of Delaware Valley. Another promotes Italian and Chinese restaurateurs with the inset, ``Who Really Invented Pasta?''
And one for Italian dentists has sketches of columns. ``These are not just columns,'' Aiello said, in his gruff voice. ``They're Etruscan columns.'' The upper-left corner says so. It also says that Etruscans invented gold bridgework, unsurpassed until the advent of modern dentistry. Aiello savors such historical morsels gleaned from his research and served up, like scrumptious tiramisu, in his ads.
``I work on these lines a lot,'' said the professional Italian, his two hours up, ``to prove not only that Italians are doing something, but that it's connected through the flow of history.''
Illustration:PHOTO
PHOTO
Johnny Aiello has ideas to save Italian culture that run beyond an ad campaign. Aiello, pictured with his artwork in his studio at Ninth and Spring Garden, wants to build a technology and cultural center in Italy. (CHARLES FOX / Inquirer Staff Photographer)
A sampling of the ads Aiello has designed. He took 10 years off from the work to research his heritage before starting them again in 1995.
JOHNNY AIELLO KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS HERITAGE. HIS ADVERTISEMENTS ARE HELPING HIM SPREAD THE WORD.
Lini S. Kadaba, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Johnny Aiello has a point to make, and he needs at least two hours to make it. If you can't spare the time, then forgetaboutit. He has already waited more than two decades for the world to catch up to him. ``I'm a professional Italian,'' said the local ad man, as he kicked off his sales pitch. The ``pro'' is a third-generation Italian American with roots in Calabria, and he wants to save the 3,000-year-old Italian culture. How? Aiello is writing a book, designing a grand plan (in need of $5 billion), and creating ads with a decidedly Italian flavor. ``This is actually quite gigantic,'' said the South Philly transplant to Oreland, Montgomery County.
Part sociologist, part carnival barker, Aiello, 55, laments an Italian ``diaspora'' that, in his opinion, has little knowledge of its rich history. Over the last 25 years, he has worked to change that, sculpting a vision with the painstaking care of a Michelangelo over David. Aiello has dreamed up a state-of-the-art technology and cultural center, where Italians around the world would come together to study art, literature and science in the mountains of his ancestral land. The center, he believes, would make Italy the focus of the Italian diaspora, revitalizing its links to the old country - a model, he points out, that could work for any culture.
So Aiello has sketches ready in case il primo ministro should call with the $5 billion he expects the operation to cost. That's the future. Meanwhile, he's banking on this book (The Modern Global Italian Empire), which, if he can find a publisher, would summarize the essentials of Italian culture, from the Roman empire and the rise of Catholicism to the Renaissance and the dispersion of Italians around the globe.
And he is creating advertisements, for a fee, of course. But the one-time art teacher and former cafe owner isn't just hawking Italian lawyers, Italian mechanics or even Italian matchmakers for a mere buck or two. He says he is sending a message, that what Italians may do today - from dentistry to hairstyling - has connections to a culture that spans three millennia. Some of the ads, appearing in Philadelphia Magazine and other publications, feature pictures of people from various walks of life with one thing in common. They're Italian.
The current series features portraits of lawyers, politicians, contractors, engineers, mechanics and more, complete with phone numbers and addresses, under the headline: Italian Problem Solvers. That's the advertisement. But Aiello's design also includes a quote attributed to Horace, the Roman poet and philosopher: ``People may change the sky above their heads when they cross the ocean but not their spirit.'' That's the cultural lesson, Aiello-style. ``I try to lift the bar by having intelligent things in there,'' he said.
Samuel D. Costanzo, an engineer, principal at Van Cleef Engineering Associates in Doylestown, and third-generation Italian American, was one of those featured in the ad. ``It's something that appeals to me,'' he said. ``I'm 100 percent Italian. I identify with my culture.''
Vincent Genovese, chairman of the Alliance of Italian-American Associations, also applauded what Aiello is trying to do. ``Johnny, through the ads, does confirm the Italian culture,'' he said. Exactly. Aiello, a crew-cut man who wears jeans and a black T-shirt topped with an open shirt, has an artsy look befitting a University of the Arts graduate.``The world didn't need another artist,'' he said, so he put his artwork - paintings and table sculptures - on hold while he pursues his book and other cultural projects.
Aiello flipped through his portfolio of ads, about 20 years old. Hairstyles have changed but not his message. ``My grandmother took a boat ride 60 years ago,'' he said. That didn't mean her culture - its customs and ways - ``just kind of evaporated.'' Aiello wasn't always so culturally astute.
``I just grew up an Italian,'' he said. When he left the old neighborhood in 1960, he realized that corporate success demanded assimilation. He could live with that. But first, he said, he wanted to make sure he knew what he was giving up. What exactly is an Italian? So began his search for identity. ``The culture was better than ever,'' Aiello said, a view he reached after much reading, many conversations with Italians, and a trip to the old country. He was determined to showcase it. Aiello headed the Italian American Bicentennial celebration in Philadelphia, and in 1978, he opened Caffe sud, a European-style restaurant and gathering spot on South Street. His foray into cultural ads began out of necessity. He couldn't afford publicity for the cafe, so he and his Italian business friends pooled money and placed a group photo, which included a smiling Aiello, under the headline: The Philadelphia Italians!
The ad spawned enough interest that Aiello started producing more ads that touted the Italian connection. And to prove his model could work for any culture, he also designed cultural ads for other groups, including Jews, Irish, Greeks and African Americans. After a 10-year hiatus to research more about his heritage, he revived the ads in 1995 under Aiello Cultural Productions. One has a tilted group photo a la the famed Pisa tower with a reference to the Leaning Tower of Delaware Valley. Another promotes Italian and Chinese restaurateurs with the inset, ``Who Really Invented Pasta?''
And one for Italian dentists has sketches of columns. ``These are not just columns,'' Aiello said, in his gruff voice. ``They're Etruscan columns.'' The upper-left corner says so. It also says that Etruscans invented gold bridgework, unsurpassed until the advent of modern dentistry. Aiello savors such historical morsels gleaned from his research and served up, like scrumptious tiramisu, in his ads.
``I work on these lines a lot,'' said the professional Italian, his two hours up, ``to prove not only that Italians are doing something, but that it's connected through the flow of history.''
Illustration:PHOTO
PHOTO
Johnny Aiello has ideas to save Italian culture that run beyond an ad campaign. Aiello, pictured with his artwork in his studio at Ninth and Spring Garden, wants to build a technology and cultural center in Italy. (CHARLES FOX / Inquirer Staff Photographer)
A sampling of the ads Aiello has designed. He took 10 years off from the work to research his heritage before starting them again in 1995.
Labels: ITALIAN CULTURE
