Promoted by the Assessorato alla Cultura di Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, and curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi and Katiuscia Biondi Giacomelli, the exhibition at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma is part of a wide-ranging project conceived to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mario Giacomelli, who was born in 1925 in Senigallia and died in 2000. The project aims at offering the public the opportunity to immerse themselves in Giacomelli’s visual and poetic universe and explore the many different aspects of his multi-faceted work.
A world-renowned artist, Giacomelli is a central figure in Italian visual culture of the second half of the 20th century, capable of building a bridge between photography, painting, poetry and sculpture. The focus of the roman exhibition is on the relationship between his work and the contemporary visual arts. The more than 300 original prints on display, many of which have never been exhibited before, demonstrate his astonishing ability to cross over and to cross-contaminate different artistic disciplines. Along the way, the works of 5 protagonists of contemporary art and photography with whom Giacomelli shared expressive, conceptual and profound poetic affinities dialogue with the photographer’s poetics and vision: Afro (Afro Basaldella) and Alberto Burri, masters of abstract and material art, Enzo Cucchi, Jannis Kounellis and the South African artist and photographer Roger Ballen.
A room at the very heart of the exhibition is be given over entirely to the series “Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto” (“I have no hands caressing my face”) that consecrated him on the international scene, set in the bishop’s seminary in Senigallia, and enriched here with unpublished material and print proofs. The room is designed in the shape of an installation in order to convey the energy and the circular movement that breathes life into the images of the young seminarians, suspended between playfulness and spirituality.
Two immersive rooms open and close the exhibition: at the entrance, Giacomelli’s voice welcomes visitors and accompanies the projection of his images while, at the end of the tour, the 1:1 scale photographic reproduction of his studio is further enhanced by the display of the enlarger and the legendary Kobell, his only camera.
Photo: Mario Giacomelli, Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto, 1961-63 © Archivio Mario Giacomelli
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