CARLOTTA BERTELLI'S IS AN UNCOMPROMISED LOOK, WHICH KNOWS OVERALL INTERCEPT OF THE UNIQUENESS OF PEOPLE, MOMENTS AND THINGS, TRANSFORMING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MEDIUM INTO A SPONTANEOUS EXTENSION OF THE SELF, AN OPEN AND CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE EXISTING. SHOT AFTER SHOT HER PRACTICE GENERATES NOT BY RANDOM STORIES, EXCITING THEMES, CONCATENATIONS OF FACES AND PLACES, SIMPLE RITUALS, CUSTOMS, BEHAVIORS THAT CARLOTTA OBSERVES AROUND THE WORLD, BUT ALSO AND MORE OFTEN IN VAL D'ORCIA, NEARBY HOME .
THEY ARE SEQUENCES OF DIRECT AND POETIC IMAGES, UNMISTAKABLY FREE FROM ARTIFICIALS AND TECHNIQUES, POSES, EFFECTS AND RETOUCHES. ANALOGUE PHOTOGRAPHS AS CLEAR AS MIRRORS, WHICH RETURN THE CHARM OF OUR BEING IN THE WORLD. THE INEXPLANABLE MYSTERY OF WHAT DISTINGUISHES US AND COMMONS US. THE HUMAN SCALE OF BIG CITIES AND SMALL COUNTRIES. THE PERSON INSCRIBED IN THE DESIGN OF PRIVATE GARDENS AND PUBLIC PARKS, ARCHITECTURAL VIEWS AND CORNERS OF THE FOREST, BIG VIEWS AND SMALL DETAILS. THE UNCODED ELEGANCE OF ANONYMOUS, ANY SUBJECTS, FRIENDS, ACQUAINTANCES, OCCASIONAL ENCOUNTERS.
“THE BENCH” IS ONE OF THOSE STORIES. IT TAKES SHAPE ON THE BACKGROUND OF A SIMPLE BENCH, ALWAYS THE SAME DROP INTO THE ANONYMOUS QUIET OF PLEIN AIR GLIMPSES. ON CLOSE LOOK, IT IS CERTAINLY NOT A FORTUNE PHOTOGRAPHIC SET, BUT RATHER AN EVOCATIVE CHOICE WHICH HAS DEEP ROOTS, EMBLEMATIC LINKS WITH MODERN REPRESENTATION. A BENCH WHICH, FROM CLAUDE MONET TO MARK ROTHKO, FROM JOHN GOSSAGE TO DIANE ARBUS, FROM LOUISE LAWLER TO JENNY HOLZER, AND FROM GREAT PAINTING TO GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY, HAS CONTEXTUALIZED IDENTITY, CUSTOMS AND FASHIONS, HERITAGES AND MESSAGES OVER THE SPACE OF MORE THAN A CENTURY.
CARLOTTA BERTELLI HAS NOT ACCIDENTALLY TRANSFORMED “THE BENCH” INTO A VERY PERSONAL RUNNING THREAD, A PLATFORM FOR HUMAN BREAKS AND MEETINGS, A NARRATIVE PRETEXT.
AND ABOVE ALL, A NON-COMMERCIAL TRIBUTE TO BIAGINI, A BRAND OF FRIENDLY LEATHER ARTISANS, WHOM THE IMAGES OF ITS HISTORY RETURN TO US IN ALL THEIR INTEGRITY AND PURITY. ON HIS BENCH THE BAGS BECOME PRESENCES, IMPLICIT CONTAINERS OF DIFFERENT EXISTENCES, ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES OF OUR NOMADIC WALK AND STAY, WITNESSES OF OUR CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE.
IDENTITY IS THUS CONFIGURED AS AN INSEPARABLE SET OF PHYSIOGNOMICAL TRAITS AND POSTURES, CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES, DISTINCTION AND MYSTERY. A TEMPORAL AND TRANS-EPOCAL SEQUENCE OF CREATURES AT STAY, INTENSE AND WONDERFUL LIKE WORKS ON A PEDESTAL. PORTRAITS ON A SMALL BENCH OF THE HOUSE IN VAL D'ORCIA AND LOCATED INTO THE STRANGENING FRAME OF THE NEW YORK SKYLINE.
MARIUCCIA FOR CARLOTTA, JULY 2023