Brunella Longo Ritratti
6th - 19th February 2004
The Exhibition
From the 6th to the 19th of February the Galleria dell' Oca will hold in both of its venues (via Margutta and via della Mercede) an exhibition of works by the young photographer Brunella Longo. This will be a selection of 50 prints (Black & White, 50 50 cm.) from the book Centouno Ritratti ("A Hundred and one Portraits"), edited by Bruno Cora' and featuring an extended essay by Raffaele Gavarro. The book was lovingly published by Gli Ori di Prato in October 2003.
In Centouno Ritratti Brunella Longo brings to fruition a project which had been in the making for two years, during which she photographed artists, critics, curators - without, however, pursuing a documentary aim (as some would take for granted given the very specific environment and subject matter), but more as a celebration of a world that she has been close to since her early age.
In his essay, Raffaele Gavarro describes Longo's work by quoting the photographer Robert Frank : "there is one thing that photography must enclose - the humanity of the moment", adding that her portraits seem to take back their subjects, (who are all adept at handling the idiom of visual communication), to a lost condition of frailty - left defenseless in front of the lens as they themselves are turned into visual entities, with whom the photographer establishes a delicate emotional bond. For each of her subjects Longo sets up a situation, an environment, a gesture, an hour of the day or of the night which conveys an inner dimension as well as a physical trait.
Portraiture is closely linked to issues of identity, and identity remains a core element of Brunella Longo's work - even when her subjects appear to be somehow overshadowed by the surrounding environment. At a closer scrutiny, the environment can be seen as being a photographic rendition of the subject's inner creative space, as for example in the beautiful images of Giovanni Anselmo, Anne and Patrick Poirier, Daniele Puppi and Elisabetta Benassi.. The choice of the black & white medium futher emphasizes the unsettling effect brought forward by the justaposition of the subject's inner and outer realities.
The exhibition at the Galleria dell' Oca will take place concurrently to the one in the Piece Unique Variations in Paris.
The Author
Brunella Longo was born in Cassino in 1965. After her high school diploma in humanities, she went on to a degree in political studies at Rome's Universita' La Sapienza . She then moved permanently Rome and pursued her interests for visual arts and photography by undergoing an intense period of training in the studios of several important photographers, among whom Claudio Abate, Vittorio Contino, Aurelio Amendola,
Massimo Piersanti.
Information
Venues:
Via Margutta, 54 00187 Rome - Monday to Friday 4:30 to 7:30 pm or by appointment.
Via della Mercede 12a 00187 Roma - Monday to Saturday by appointment.
The exhibition's opening will include the presentation of the book "Brunella Longo, Centouno Ritratti", introduction by Bruno Cora', essay by Raffaele Gavarro.. Published by Gli Ori di Prato,
Oct 2003 (pp. 224 - 45 euro).
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