“Decoding Reality: Giovanni Chiaramonte’s Vision at the APE Parma Museum”

This remarkable first retrospective of Giovanni Chiaramonte is absolutely essential, made possible through a significant partnership between the CSAC – Centro Studi Archivio della Comunicazione at the University of Parma (established by Arturo Carlo Quintavalle, a companion of Chiaramonte and curator of the exhibition) and Fondazione Monteparma. Held at the APE Parma Museum, this exhibition, running until February 9, features four hundred photographs, organized into 26 thematic projects by the illustrious Lombard photographer from Gela. “La fotografia come misura del mondo” (Photography as a measure of the world) is the title chosen by the curators for this extensive exploration of the photographer’s poetics, rich with human figures, aspects of nature, moments of silence, illumination, and a relentless quest for the divine within the mundane, along with continuous allusions to the cinema of Andrej Tarkovskij. Attendees will witness the interplay of conceptual and realistic components, geometries and viewpoints, while consistently appreciating the essence of Giovanni Chiaramonte’s photographic art, who proclaimed: «Photography is writing with light for an instant in a permanent manner». Confronted with a flawless setup that enables visitors to maintain their orientation, we will here adopt the approach utilized during our visit: chronologically navigating through the wealth of displayed works in an approximate sequential order starting from 1970 and culminating around 2010.

Giovanni Chiaramonte, “Gela”, from the “Ultima Sicilia” series, 1970, ph. courtesy APE Parma Museo © Eredi Giovanni Chiaramonte

Giovanni Chiaramonte’s early creations mark a return to his roots: “L’ultima Sicilia” (1970) is a monochrome endeavor that captures the vibrant lives of sun-kissed villages, depicting their daily activities against a backdrop where the glaring white sunlight and the sheets draped across streets pulsate alongside the dark attire of elderly women. The subsequent year brings us to “Numerazione Desolazione”, a project that effectively conveys its name. This work unfolds in a Milanese locale removed from the public eye: the numbering is represented by white chalk markings in the parking spaces, while the desolation is that of a lot formed from a bombed structure, which, now devoid of debris, becomes a horizontal expanse recounted in eleven images. “Sequenze nel tempo” narrates the span of 1973-74, delivering an unsettling experience. The photographer transports us through the skies and outer space, documenting, within the room’s darkness, spatial visuals emanating from the television. The finished product encompasses creative triptychs and polyptychs that invite us back to reality via a mediated medium. Returning to his cherished Sicily, Chiaramonte captures truth in the photographs of the project “Giardini in Sicilia” (1974), where he formulates a more lyrical title to authentically reflect the disorientation of individuals no longer able to recognize their heritage and the world they once inhabited. His vision oscillates between two realms, being a product of the traditional Italian emigration era during the economic boom. Chiaramonte’s photographic artistry also leans towards the conceptual, which he revisits in the project “La Creazione/Neon”, also from 1974, through which he directly honors contemporary artists employing neon as a medium. We encounter a luminous line, a circle casting light, alongside other virtual symbols that intended to express that light transcends mere lines, and circles go beyond being mere shapes.

Giovanni Chiaramonte, “Vela-Gela”, from the “Terra del ritorno” series, 1985, detail, courtesy CSAC- Centro Studi Archivio della Comunicazione dell’Università di Parma © Eredi Giovanni Chiaramonte

The year 1974 proved to be highly productive for Chiaramonte: another venture showcased in the exhibition is “Discorso di Natale”, where he revisited the stylistic traits of temporal sequences, presenting us with images of Pope Paul VI as he delivered his Christmas message. While the concept of time appears well-defined, Chiaramonte unsettled us by introducing a glimpse from his personal apartment window, also shrouded in darkness, almost serving as a conceptual counterpart to the grand window through which the pontiff gazed. Furthermore, in 1974, he crafted “Dov’è la nostra terra”, a project spanning various locations both within Italy and abroad, heavily focused on the interpretation of images and symbols. The window objectreturned four years later with “Finestre”, a thematic collection that suggested what can be observed from within: the viewpoint initiated its portrayal from inside the room to indicate what it could seize through the delicate barrier of a curtain, of glass, of perspective. “Verso il celeste” from 1978 conveys, with a title disclosing Chiaramonte’s profound belief, the protest against consumerism. The photograph of a model’s figure stands out in this thematic venture, depicted on a billboard alongside a massive red heart, while a disorienting urban suburb looms in the background. As in the Sicilian gardens, similarly in the project “Giardini e paesaggi”, the gardens intrinsically belong to the metaphysics of the title: in this body of work, indeed, the photographer illustrates a juxtaposition between contemporary and classical culture by incorporating, within the square frame of the scene (the garden is an area of very strict planning and mediation), shards of ancient statues intersected by shadows. The pivotal photograph of the series “Paesaggio italiano” (we have now entered the 80s) is an image of a shelf from the photographer’s home library, with several reference texts of his poetics and sensitivity prominently displayed: the presence of Aristotle, Saint Augustine, Sartre, Florenskij signifies a cognitive stream that draws from metaphysics, Christian belief, and existentialism. “Viaggio in Italia” is the focal point of this period and the years to follow for all Italian photography. It is impossible not to link Luigi Ghirri’s name with this goal of revealing our social and cultural identity through the photographic medium. Giovanni Chiaramonte stands among the key figures of this essential transition (a total of twenty photographers are included) and contributes with a few images necessarily allied to Ghirri’s poetics.

Giovanni Chiaramonte, “Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem”, 1988, courtesy Fondazione Monteparma © Eredi Giovanni Chiaramonte

In 1984 the photographer presents “Vitriol”, an acrostic inviting the alignment of the divine macrocosm with the human microcosm. The window of a room reappears (a metaphor for the internal-external transition) and captures, for instance, a labyrinth on the pavement, a representation of the misleading paths in which man can become ensnared. “Terra del ritorno” is a traveling project, passing through significant cities such as Porto, Berlin, Athens, Istanbul, and Jerusalem, and foremost, Gela, the city where Chiaramonte’s family originated. The emblematic image of this series might be the bow of the sunken vessel aimed towards the west, almost symbolizing the journey back to the site of existence. “Attraverso la pianura” constitutes a project of social inquiry: Chiaramonte depicts the marginal, the oblique, everything that lingers to the sides, traversing the swift communication routes. In 1987, and in that same year, the photographer initiates a more extensive chronicle (it will span two decades) focusing on “Venice”. Within this context, his vision aligns with the essence of poetry that the city’s atmospheres bestow upon his sensitivity. The city is often illustrated intertwining its primary component, water, with the sky, thereby engendering in Chiaramonte that sense of tranquility frequently alluded to. Almost concurrently, the photographer ventures into “Berlin”, a city he explores to underline its harsh historical fate. The series of cities is completed with “Jerusalem”, a location that remains a constant in Chiaramonte’s perspective: we find ourselves still at the closing of the 80s, and the capital of the three monotheistic faiths evokes both a believer’s religious fulfillment and the essential dialogue among cultures that are not significantly distant from one another. A shelter in the boundless landscape and a solitary tree in a square symbolize a new exploration into questioning the contemporary Italian landscape. The two slender verticalities are at the heart of “Penisola delle figure”, wherein, besides definitively adopting color, Chiaramonte enters the 90s. The theme, already prevalent, of the return to the West also plays a crucial role in “Westwards” (1996), ‘towards the West’, where the photographer thrusts us to the edge of a marsh from which an alligator surfaces, observed with calm familiarity by the locals (we are in Florida) and in the city, the “neoclassical” columns of American homes are dazzling. The Latin American realm is geographically very proximate to the US coasts and forms the nucleus of the “Oceano latino” project: the evocative title encompasses the journeys made by Chiaramonte to Mexico, Panama, Trinidad, and Cuba. The range of subjects represented is very broad and encapsulates signs of the profound religious devotion of those peoples coupled with the revolutionary and anti-capitalist spirit that has permeated, in certain instances, their recent past.

Giovanni Chiaramonte, “Duomo”, from the “Cerchi della città di mezzo” series, 1999, detail, courtesy Fondazione Monteparma © Eredi Giovanni Chiaramonte

“Ai confinidel mare” is an extended initiative, indeed it spans the years 1985-1995. The photographer revisits Sicily, particularly Gela and its vicinity, and illustrates a vast, expansive Sicily, characterized by endless spaces that gaze towards geographical horizons. The year 2000 commences with a resurgence of conceptuality, and the city of Milan serves as the backdrop for the thematic collection “Cerchi nella città di mezzo”. The concept of this endeavor is to depict the urban landscape from the outskirts to the heart: and at the center, the focal point of this whole voyage, a couple embraces at the base of the Madonnina del Duomo, with a significant nod to the photographer’s belief. The motif of interaction among individuals reaches its peak with the project “L’altro_nei volti, nei luoghi” (2010), wherein he once more delves into the social periphery. The photographic odyssey meanders between Palermo and Milan, showcasing the visages of those outside the European Union. Chiaramonte captures these often overlooked individuals in a triptych where the central image features their face, while the side images depict their living spaces and the tools of their trade. The presence of the earthquake takes center stage in “Interno perduto”, a photographic endeavor focused on the devastation inflicted by the quake that rocked the southern environs of Modena on May 31, 2012. Here, the requisite individual sensitivity often intertwines with compositional artistry, demonstrating greater precision in the lines and spatial occupation within the visuals. Lastly, the thematic series “Salvare l’ora” is also modern, a photographic exploration from 2011-12 that melds the photographer’s artistic vision with the essence of the internal structure of haiku. There are 70 polaroids complemented by 70 haiku composed by the photographer, and the initiative is aptly elucidated by the photographer’s own words: «they are ethereal traces of the divine essence concealed within every shape and figure that illuminates the world». The exhibition is accompanied by the comprehensive monograph “Giovanni Chiaramonte” authored by Arturo Carlo Quintavalle, marking the editorial debut of Electaphoto, a project by the Electa publishing house.

Info:

Giovanni Chiaramonte. Fotografia come misura del mondo (Photography as a measure of the world)
10/11/2024 – 9/02/2025
APE Parma Museo
Via Farini, 32/a – Parma
www.apeparmamuseo.it

I am Giovanni Crotti, born in June 1968 in Reggio Calabria, and I rejuvenated in June 2014 in Piacenza, the city where I reside. My earnings are secured through digital consultancy, which I primarily allocate to art and literature: I have been and continue to be a content curator and organizer of cultural events for artists, galleries, and institutional venues, in addition to being a writer of exhibition critiques, creatives from various eras, and author of books.