Italia o Italia

A new space generated by the impact with reality where neither places nor passing presences have a name.

A maze of fragments, silhouettes and glimpses. The centre, the focus, is simply the photographer’s reaction to a presence along the way. The pictures seem calibrated to the photographer’s eye, so closely do they accompany his roaming gaze. Spinning a web of references, associations and traps with that pinch of irony that only intimate relationships allow, Clavarino addresses the monumental and static Italian landscape, investing it with new allegories. So before becoming photographs, these fragments are the cities of Calvino, the poetry of Montale, the voids of De Chirico and the colours of Morandi. The history of portraying Italy manifests itself more vividly than its historicism. Familiar although not recognisable, ancient ruins are invaded by traces of the present that seem to meddle with the silence of this timeless dream. This work is on show in Turin from January 20 to February 12 at Jest.

Federico Clavarino (1984) lives and works in Madrid. After a Master in Creative writing at the Scuola Holden in Torino, goes to Madrid where he studies photography at the BlankPaper School, where he teaches since 2011. He received several awards and published three books. His work is represented by galleria Viasaterna, in Milan, Italy.