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Marazzi’s new exhibition is a peek into the unpublished archives of Luigi Ghirri
Luigi Ghirri Les années Marazzi 1975–1985. Installation view at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, 2021.
Image: Aurélien Mole. Courtesy Marazzi Ceramiche
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Marazzi’s new exhibition is a peek into the unpublished archives of Luigi Ghirri

The Italian Cultural Institute in Paris presents for the first time in France an unpublished collection of Ghirri's photographs, kept for decades in the archives of the Marazzi ceramic company in Emiliab

by Nitija Immanuel
Published on : Nov 19, 2021

As part of the "À Paris pendant Paris Photo" itinerary of Paris Photo 2021, from 10 November to 21 December 2021, the Italian Cultural Institute of Paris presents Luigi Ghirri. Les années Marazzi 1975 – 1985, edited by Ilaria Campioli. The exhibition, the second appointment of an exhibition project that had its first stop at the Palazzo Ducale, the Ducal Palace in Sassuolo (Modena, Italy) from 16 September to 31 October - showcases for the first time in France a set of almost completely unpublished photographs by Luigi Ghirri between the 1970s and 1980s for the ceramic company Marazzi. The exhibition celebrates one of the most important masters of Italian photography on an international level. “It is a great honour for us to host the work of one of the greatest Italian photographers of the 20th century," says Diego Marani, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris. "The valorisation of this unique association between one of the greatest masters of Italian photography and the company is enriched by a new chapter, with the exhibition for the first time of a set of these works by Ghirri in France, in a symbolic place of cultural diplomacy such as the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris,” shares Mauro Vandini, CEO of Marazzi.

Luigi Ghirri Les années Marazzi 1975–1985. Installation view at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, 2021. Image: Aurélien Mole. Courtesy Marazzi Ceramiche

The exhibition project, made possible owing to the collaboration between Italian Cultural Institute, Archivio Luigi Ghirri and Marazzi Group represents a new step in the important operation of valorisation Marazzi has launched thanks to the sharing of a unique cultural experience. It adds new elements to our knowledge of the work and research of an absolute master of Italian photography, loved all over the world. It takes place in the hall of mirrors and the picture gallery on the first floor of the 18th-century building that houses the Institute, shows a selection of 24 photographs taken during the collaboration between the artist and Marazzi, which have been kept in the company's archives for almost forty years."This important operation of valorisation undertaken by Marazzi allows us to exhibit unpublished works that have hardly ever been presented to the public, in an important international context such as Paris Photo 2021," says Marani.

marazzi-s-new-exhibition-is-a-peek-into-the-unpublished-archives-of-luigi-ghirri
Luigi Ghirri Marazzi Ceramiche Image: Eredi Luigi Ghirri

The exhibition opens in the hall of mirrors where there are photographs dominated by the soft tones of terracotta - background for the hourglass, the lady, the egg, the cactus - alongside images dedicated to ideal architectures and fragments of classical aesthetics that once again dialogue with tile grids whose geometric and alienating effect is heightened by the use of mirrors and reflections, in a continuous interrogation of the vision and its thousand variations. "In his production for Marazzi, Luigi Ghirri places ceramics within a broader reflection on representation," explains Ilaria Campioli, curator of the exhibition. The photographs infuses pop hues of colour into the warm baroque Italian Cultural Institute in Paris.

marazzi-s-new-exhibition-is-a-peek-into-the-unpublished-archives-of-luigi-ghirri
Luigi Ghirri. Les années Marazzi 1975–1985. Installation view at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, 2021. Image: Aurélien Mole. Courtesy Marazzi Ceramiche

In the next room, the picture gallery, the visitor meets the photographs in which ceramics become a geometric grid that defines spaces through miniatures, changes of perspectives, small optical illusions and then the images in which the tools of childhood learning - the abacus, the colored pencils, the blackboard -are protagonists alongside those of the game (the ball) and imagination (a rainbow supported by the shadow of a hand).

marazzi-s-new-exhibition-is-a-peek-into-the-unpublished-archives-of-luigi-ghirri
Luigi Ghirri. Les années Marazzi 1975–1985. Installation view at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, 2021. Image: Photo Credit: Aurélien Mole. Courtesy Marazzi Ceramiche

Luigi Ghirri.Les années Marazzi 1975 - 1985 reveals the extent to which Ghirri used ceramics to explore themes and reflections dear to him in those years, such as the very function of photography, its being a tool for questioning the world, for understanding collective and shared perception, for analysing architecture, the representation of the landscape, illusion."Surfaces become part of that system of measuring and reducing the world to scale that was so important for the author in those years. The combination of the different planes and the grids allow him to deepen his reflection on knowledge and learning, as if they were a sheet of paper on which he could learn to write and draw each time,” says Campioli.

The exhibition is open (by prior booking) from 10 November - 21 December 2021 at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris 50, rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris

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