From March 25 to June 12 2022
The castle of Monferrato (piazza Castello)
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10AM to 01PM and from 03PM to 07PM
Free entry
Fotomorfosi-infernot (Photomorphosis)
edited by Simona Ongarelli
The photography project by Ilenio Celoria is the perfect combination of tradition, territory and research. The subjects of his pieces are small underground architectures dug in Cantoni stone, called “Infernot”; since 2014, these structures have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage as part of “I Paesaggi Vitivinicoli del Piemonte: Langhe-Roero e Monferrato” (The vineyard landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato). The exhibition, through what the author defines as “photomorphosis”, guides us from a more traditional and descriptive view to a more abstract and less conventional one, encouraging a larger scale reflection about perception and photographic representation of space. The coloured images present “a more natural look: they are characterized by distinct framing that highlights the artifact ‘s morfology using traditional photographic perspective”. The other images in the exhibit have been taken with a camera able to shoot 360 degrees pictures in these narrow and not very accessible spaces. The outcome was a equirectangular projection that was subsequently transformed in a stereographic spheric representation. “An unusual system of photographic reproduction that is not conventional for the specific medium: these are images that reproduce the environment in 360 degrees and use cartographic projections to restore the two-dimensional aspect. Although present more than ever in our daily life, as widely used in augmented reality applications, these pictures display a view that our eyes struggle to understand, but allow us to reflect on the way today’s technology can show new perspectives connected to the perceptive restoration of architectural spaces”.
He was born in Casale Monferrato. After graduating in Architecture at the University of Genoa he began applying himself to teaching and research in the photography space, as it is documented by the many publications. He has taught “Didattica della rappresentazione per immagini” (Pedagogy for images representation) at the University of Genoa, “Fotografia e fotografia digitale” (Photography and digital photography) at the Fine Arts Academy in Sanremo, “Laboratorio di Didattica dell’educazione all’immagine” (Pedagogy laboratory on image education) at the Department of Education Sciences of the University of Genoa. From2001 he teaches “Laboratori Tecnici” (Technical Workshops) at the Leardi Institute and since 2019 he is the teacher for “Laboratorio artistico“ (Art Workshop) at the Morbelli Art High School in Casale Monferrato, currently he is also a professor at the Scuola Politecnica of Genoa for the curriculum of “Fotografia e Immagini digitali” (Photography and digital images) for the Masters' curriculum in Digital Humanities – Communication and New Media and for the curriculum of Methodology for project's representation for the Architecture course. He has had exhibitions of his photography projects at the Venezia Biennale, the Photography Biennale in Alessandria, at the Natural Sciences Museum in Turin, at Photissima Art Fair, at Mu.Ma, at Sant'Agostino Museum and at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, at the Italian Cultural Institutes in Cologne, Vienna, Prague, Malta and in other spaces in several cities both in Italy and abroad.