Luigi Ghirri’s “Industrial Perspectives” on show in Bologna

Luigi Ghirri, one of the most celebrated Italian artists of the last century, has shaped an entire photographic imagination, transforming objects in his everyday life and the entire surrounding landscape into authentic tools of conceptual reflection. Alongside his personal research, Ghirri has created important work units for industry – Ferrari, Marazzi, Bulgari and Costa Crociere – which are presented to the public for the first time at Foto/Industria 2019, the Biennale dedicated to photography of industry and work organized by the MAST Foundation, which this year presents 11 exhibitions devoted to the theme of building: 10 are staged in historic places in the centre of Bologna and Anthropocene at the MAST Foundation.

From cities to industries, the “IV Bienniale of Photography of Industry and Work”, which this year features artistic direction by Francesco Zanot, aims to investigate, according to a sampling criterion, the complex and dynamic building system that has always characterized humans’ presence on the planet and which today includes everything that man has added to the natural environment in the name “Technosphere”, the theme of all 11 exhibitions.

In the captivating basements of Palazzo Bentivoglio, in the heart of Bologna, you can visit “Prospettive Industriali” (Industrial Perspectives), the exhibition dedicated to photographs taken by Luigi Ghirri for Ferrari, Costa Crociere, Bulgari and Marazzi, along with materials – albums, proofs and final folders – which reveal Ghirri’s entire work process, precious elements that give us a greater insight into the career of a central figure in the history of photography.

In his work with Marazzi between the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ghirri distanced himself from documentary photography, actively participating in the creation of an approach in which play, alienation and chromatic research define a new visual experience. Ghirri’s photographs evoke metaphysical moods in which the tile becomes prime mover in relation to the other features of the scene.

In reference to his work with Marazzi, Ghirri writes that “ceramic has a history that is lost in the mists of time. It has always been an object on which other objects are placed: the furniture, gestures, images and shadows of the people who inhabit these spaces. When creating these images, I tried to reconstruct, with the help of surfaces in different colours, in the overlap of objects and images, a space which, instead of being the physical and measurable space of a room, embodied the notion of mental space in a given moment... This work, beyond its other meanings, is a reconstruction of certain rooms in my memory.”

FOTO/INDUSTRIA 2019

IV BIENNIALE OF PHOTOGRAPHY OF INDUSTRY AND WORK

PROSPETTIVE INDUSTRIALI – LUIGI GHIRRI

Palazzo Bentivoglio

Basements

Via del Borgo San Pietro, 1 – Bologna

Until 24 November 2019

www.fotoindustria.it

Free admission