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Italics interviews Giovanni Gariboldi

“Sometimes a work modifies the space, other times it’s the opposite. In my work, I try to find resonances and connections or I work with contrasts, but always seeking harmony in the whole.”
Giovanni Gariboldi

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“The story is not in the image, but in our relationship with the image, in what it deposits within us.”

From this consideration, Bertrand Schefer writes the book “Francesca Woodman,” a short narrative that talks about her, seeks her out, reconstructs her, and aims to save her from oblivion, not so much as an artist, now consecrated, but as a human being. Woodman is a star that leaves a powerful luminous trail, entering the empyrean of art with frightening speed and, in that same fear, leaves the earth of her own will at twenty-three years old. The author, at times moving, at times capable of surprising, leaves us with questions and reflections on the power of photographic images and some unknown elements about her. We are (very) interested because it emphasizes how the gaze that touches the surface of an image can satisfy the pleasure of a moment and at the same time push us to search for depth. Especially when we are faced with a work of art. It is a possibility, not an obligation, and we believe it is worth it.

Bertrand Schefer, Francesca Woodman, Johan & Levi Editore, 2024.

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Once again, Giovanni Covini took us into his cinematic world and offered us his unique perspective on interpreting images.
One of the participants commented: “Technical but accessible, intense but not tedious. Time flies between viewing the images, the technical explanation, and the simultaneous reflections induced by one’s personal experiences.”
Paolo Umbriano

The next appointment is on Saturday, June 22, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. For more information and registration, contact: press@studiogariboldi.com

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A small and interesting book on Antoni Tàpies, authored by Massimo Recalcati, has just been released by Marsilio. Those of us who frequent his works in galleries have read it and found an original psychoanalytic perspective on the work of the Catalan master. Many reflections start from the works but arrive directly to us and our lives, such as the one on the cross, a symbol used by the artist in his works, “which oscillates towards the X of the enigma or the X of the unknown,” an X that “arises from the erasure of the Self.” Or the approach to the poetics of the wall. Paintings that transform into walls and the colors gray, black, and ocher, a renunciation of the shortcuts of color and form.

We are interested in it because it reflects on the artist’s creative process and the metaphorical power of his expressive choices. Recalcati writes: “encountering the reality of one’s own wall does not mean falling into a hopeless silence, but making this silence the material for a previously unthinkable poetics.”

Massimo Recalcati, Il silenzio della materia. La poetica del Muro di Antoni Tàpies, Marsilio, 2024.

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“What I cannot see is no longer an obstacle: it is desire. Not seeing is the anticipation of seeing.”

We are used to always looking at everything, wanting to see, and managing to do so. But not everything is within our sight, not everything is revealed to us. Here, then, is the author’s suggestion: transform the obstacle into a resource, fuel the desire.

This is relevant to us because we often view works of art merely as objects hanging on walls and believe that viewing is an entirely individual action. However, sometimes looking together allows us to see something more. Chicca Gagliardo’s book is an experience and can be used as a reflective map for orientation, or the opposite. Disorienting ourselves, losing familiar points of reference, to rediscover and rewrite ourselves.

Chicca Gagliardo, Quando ci scopriremo poeti nessuno potrà prenderci, Hacca Edizioni, 2024

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Light is not the opposite of darkness, and for John Berger, this is a fact, not just a metaphor. Light is not uniform and constant, or at least it can only be so in rare circumstances, by the sea or in the mountains. Light calls to the eye, and wherever it is, our gaze seeks it out. This is a good starting point for reflecting on how we look at things, and in John Berger’s collection of critical essays, each encounter with works of art becomes a real experience.

We are interested in this because Berger reveals how seeing comes before words and how looking is the beginning of every personal narrative.

John Berger, “Sul guardare” Il Saggiatore, translated by Maria Nadotti, Milan 2017.

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“To collect means to surrender to the desire to love more than one object with the same intensity and care without ever choosing exclusive love.”

Life in its forms is an intense and lengthy reflection on how we define ourselves based on the objects we choose.

This interests us because it reflects on the relationship between us and “things”, whether they be works of art or everyday objects.

Emanuele Coccia and Alessandro Michele, “La vita delle forme, Filosofia del reincanto” HarperCollins, Milan 2024.

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“This is what the body is for” by Roberta Scorranese
in dialogue with the poet Mario De Santis

The average time spent in front of a work of art does not exceed 8 seconds. Drawing from this research by the Tate Gallery in London, Roberta Scorranese shared her particular way of looking at paintings, especially those depicting women’s bodies. Not updating the works, putting away cell phones, not confusing the artist’s life with their artistic production, are some of Scorranese’s suggestions, but above all, we should not be afraid to truly look. Within the pages of “This is what the body is for” the author directs our gaze to famous works, offering us a way to see them with fresh eyes. With patience.