Mario Cresci. Ri-creazioni
15 September – 16 October 2016
Ri-creazioni originates from the encounter between Mario Cresci and the images stored in the Eni Photography Archive, as well as some of the more recent and innovative materials produced by the company. Past and present: on one hand, we find a great container of photographs, publications, both black & white and colour prints, slides and negatives, a heritage of great historical and artistic value, offering an overview of the whole of the 20th century. On the other hand, there’s the world of high tech, placed at the service of man and his primary needs. Cresci exploits all this, making it the starting point of his own itinerary, providing works which say something both about the subject investigated and about his way of representing it, in a close-knit and prolific dialogue.
Mario Cresci
Mario Cresci (Chiavari, 1942) is among the leading artists of his generation to apply project culture to photography, along with experimentation in the artistic field with visual languages. In the 1970s, his training and studies in design acquired at the ‘Advanced Course in Industrial Design’ in Venice met head on with his direct experience of the ethnical and anthropological cultures of the southern regions of Italy, particularly in Matera, where in 1974 he opened his first studio of photography and graphic design.
Among the most important moments of his career are his appearances at the Venice Biennales in 1971, 1979, 1993 (with ‘Muri di carta, fotografia e paesaggio dopo le avanguardie’) and in 2013 with photographs from the historical exhibition ‘Viaggio in Italia’. In 2004 he held a retrospective titled ‘Le case della fotografia. 1966-2003’ at the GAM in Turin. From 2010 to 2012 he put together the project ‘Forse Fotografia: attraverso l’arte; attraverso la traccia; attraverso l’umano’ respectively at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna, at the Calcografia Nazionale in Rome and the Museo d’Arte Medioevale e Moderna della Basilicata in Matera.
His works may be found in collections of contemporary art and photography, in the permanent collections of museums, institutes and research centres in Italy and abroad.
From 1991 to 2000 he served as director of the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti in Bergamo, and during that time he wrote essays and reviews for the ‘Cultura’ insert of the newspaper ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’.
In 2007 he wrote a monograph for the ‘Photo Tools’ series, published by Federico Motta Editore. He currently teaches at the ISIA in Urbino and at the Fondazione Fotografia in Modena. He lives and works in Bergamo.