WATER DROPS. Giovanni De Angelis. exhibition at MACRO Museum Rome 25 June 15 September 2011

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1 WATER DROPS Giovanni De Angelis exhibition at MACRO Museum Rome 25 June 15 September 2011

2 GIOVANNI DE ANGELIS WATER DROPS MACRO Via Nizza 138, corner of Via Cagliari, 3rd Floor 25 June 15 September 2011 Press Conference: 24 June, 11 a.m. Opening: 24 June, 7 p.m. Curated by Costanza Paissan MACRO is pleased to present the Water Drops photographic project by Giovanni De Angelis. An intense, vibrant view of pairs of individuals bound by a more-thanfraternal relationship, in which the uniqueness of each individual person can be seen through their physical resemblance. The photographic Water Drops project tackles the theme of twinship from a twofold perspective - social and anthropological - freeing itself from the concept of mere reportage in order to examine the themes of identity, of the uniqueness of the individual, and of their relationships with the "other". Intrigued by tales and accounts from Candido Godoi, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the photographer left for the South American town to see with his own eyes what is referred to as "the land of twins". He worked on the project together with the psychotherapist Luisa Laurelli, who was able to meet and interview pairs of twins in order to describe their profiles. The two sides of this research, the artistic and scientific, thus came together to investigate the social, psychological, and individual situation of this place and of its inhabitants. Cadido Godoi is a peasant community inhabited by an enclave of families of German and Polish origin, which have one of the highest rates of twin-births (equivalent to 10% of all births, of which 30% are homozygote). As the writer Jorge Camarasa has revealed, it appears that this anomaly dates back to the experiments performed by the German doctor Joseph Mengele who, after the Second World War, carried out a series of studies in the village with the aim of establishing the criteria for creating a superior race of humans. De Angelis and Laurelli go beyond these suppositions and investigate the evolutionary process of these individuals, which examines the complex creation of self and of personal identity through the recognition of similarities and differences. It is a sort of "educational narrative" which, in De Angelis's photos, does not take place through verbal communication, but through the subtle details of faces, expressions, and looks. For it is in the eyes of the sitters that we see the vibrant energy of a construction of Self as separate and distinct from others and quite unique. As Luisa Laurelli says: "There is a temptation in twins to escape from a typically human condition, which is that of solitude and absence. It is in this perspective that we find the representation of Self as a further possibility for identification. The image restores a sense of uniqueness through the visual experience of the 'other', which is separate from us; and this perception opens up the potential for dialogue with a profound emotional experience. As a means of expression, the image makes it possible to escape from the constraints of the 'double' through the legitimisation of the ego." Through his lens, De Angelis looks at these pairs of twins, trying to pick out the uniqueness of each individual and of their particular identity, which is reflected but not confused in the image of the other. The format of the photographs, which is based on the "twinship" of the sides of a square, is the ideal setting for this profound, delicate research into the idea of the "double" and into the formation of Self.

14 Giovanni De Angelis was born in Naples in He has been living in Rome since He first took up traditional photography as an adolescent and immediately developed a great interest in research into visual perception: in 2004 he started up a study, Luceveloce, which investigated the infinite potential of light and of its interaction with bodies. In 2005 and 2006, his investigations continued with Luce dissolve, which took him into a dimension on the borderline between painting and photography, in which solitary figures, either motionless or moving, pass through beams of light with their shadows. His research continued to evolve and he became increasingly interested in aspects of modernity, of Japanese and Indian metropolises and society, as we can see in Strade con pioggia, Sui iki and Churchgate, in which his interest in oriental culture is conveyed through ethno-anthropological eyes. These works have been shown in many galleries. His interest in metropolises then continued in his Contemporary Districts project, in the cities of Tokyo, Tel Aviv, and Warsaw, and it still on-going in works that place young people and their settings at the centre of his research, discovering urban districts inhabited by a constantly changing humanity. At times Giovanni De Angelis aims to recreate the memories of those who no longer have memory, as in the case of Sansone Elide, a project shown at the "ECC Ente Comunale di Consumo" group exhibition in His most important solo exhibitions include Contemporary Districts #2: TEL AVIV, Malta (2010); Churchgate, Galleria Loto Arte, Rome (2008); Contemporary Districts #1: Shibuya, VI Roma Festival Internazionale della Fotografia, Museo Nazionale di Arti Orientali, Rome (2007); Aqua Art, Palazzo Donarelli Ricci, Rome (2007); Luce Dissolve, V Festival Internazionale della Fotografia, Rome (2006); Sui iki, Galleria Doozo, Rome (2005). He has also taken part in group exhibitions in Italy, including ECC Ente Comunale di Consumo, CIAC Centro Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea Genazzano, Rome (2010), Museo Nazionale di Cozenza (2011); Piazza d'armi, Emergency Room, PAN Palazzo delle Arti, Naples (2009); BATTITI, Complesso Monumentale di San Michele, Rome (2009); Diario Quotidiano, MUSINF Museo d'arte Moderna, dell'informazione e della Fotografia, Senigallia (2009); Codice 01, DART Chiostro del Bramante, Rome (2007). In collaboration with Ines Musumeci Greco. The Water Drops project is based on an idea by Giovanni De Angelis and Luisa Laurelli. The Giovanni De Angelis. Water Drops exhibition is promoted by Assessorato alle Politiche Culturali e Centro Storico Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali. MACRO Via Nizza, corner of Via Cagliari, Rome Opening times: Tuesday - Sunday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (the ticket office closes at 9 p.m.). Closed Mondays Tickets: MACROTICKET: MACRO + MACROTestaccio, Full: 11.00; Reduced: Validity: 7 days (the MACRO ticket also gives free admission to MACRO TESTACCIO within a period of 7 days) For residents of the city of Rome: Full 10.00; Reduced 8.00 MACRO Communication Office Massimiliano Moschetta - Nicolò Scialanga T stampa.macro@comune.roma.it Zètema Progetto Cultura Press Office Patrizia Morici T p.morici@zetema.it

Who can attend the workshop. Architects, engineers, technicians, technical promoters are allowed to attend the course. Program

Who can attend the workshop. Architects, engineers, technicians, technical promoters are allowed to attend the course. Program In collaborazione con: SOVRAINTENDENZA AI BENI CULTURALI DEL COMUNE DI ROMA SSML SCUOLA SUPERIORE MEDIATORI LINGUISTICI GREGORIO VII Patrocini: MiBAC MINISTERO PER I BENI E LE ATTIVITA CULTURALI AIDI ASSOCIAZIONE