Events
Art
Thursday, May 31, 2007 - Friday, August 31, 2007
Mario Giacomelli: Exhibition
The Institute presents the U.S. premiere of the first traveling exhibition (60 photos) dedicated to the work of Mario Giacomelli.
Born in Senigallia (Ancona) in 1925, from early on he worked in a print shop, the Tipografia Marchigiana, and came to the world of photography as an amateur, capturing in images Senigallia and environs, where he lived until his death in 2000. Giacomelli is considered one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century and almost all of his work – 280 photographs ranging from 1955 to 1999 – is preserved in Senigallia’s Museo d’Arte Moderna e dell’Informazione. Some of these photos are being shown for the first time, in North America at the Institute’s gallery. Mario Giacomelli addressed disturbing themes such as loneliness, old age and the fear of death. His images are universal because they speak of humanity’s eternal vicissitudes. They invite us to reflect upon the human condition in a way that is both loving and understanding. His photos, almost always black and white, were personally printed by the artist to show the contrasts between figures and their backgrounds, thus revealing their abstract forms.
In 1955 Giacomelli began work on his series Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi (“Death Shall Come and It Will Have Your Eyes”), in which, while visiting old people’s homes of Senigallia, he photographed lives that were slowly ebbing away. At the same time he was exploring the theme of rural life in La buona Terra (“The Good Earth,” 1955-68), a voyage taking him back to his childhood in which he immortalized peasant families and their seasonal work in the fields. Scanno (1957-59) is perhaps his most celebrated series, portraying a traditional ancestral world where time seems to have stood still.
Many of Giacomelli’s photos are part of New York MOMA’s permanent collection. In the Sixties he worked on the project Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto (“I Have No Hands Caressing My Face”), better known as the Pretini series, shown at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, consisting of images shot in the diocesan seminary of Senigallia, inspired by moments in the religious lives of young men.
The mayor of Senigallia, Luana Angeloni, will be at the exhibition’s opening along with Carlo Emanuele Bugatti, the director of the Museo di Arte Moderna e dell’Informazione.
Info
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2007 - Friday, August 31, 2007
Hours: 6 pm
Venue: Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Los Angeles - 1023 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90024
Organized by: Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Los Angeles
In collaboration with: Museo d’Arte Moderna e dell’Informazione, the City of Senigallia and the Marche Region.
Free admission
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