The exhibition by Title Where are we now? Volumes I and II, tells through a series of works – 2 videos, 6 photos, 1 sculptural installation – the contemporary world with a universal language, questioning what we are today or, better, “where” we are today, in what world, in what culture, in what relationships, in what space.
What results it is the portrait of a society that is losing its sense of community, dominated by fear, resentment and hostility.
Vittorio Guida is a photographer who has worked in various fields and created images all over the world but with particular attention to two areas considered central to the future development of the planet: China and Africa. The exhibition itinerary opens with the sculptural installation which presents an army of statuettes of Mao Zedong represented as a "lucky cat" (in Chinese Zhao Cai Mao, with evident pun).
The two photographic series see, instead, protagonists a latest generation robots, capable of autonomous movements thanks to an artificial neural network, and a metallic shackle, an insect commonly kept in captivity in China as a pet or fighting animal.
The two videos Where are we now? Volume 1 and Volume 2 (the second of which unpublished and produced specifically for this exhibition) constitute a set of images that do not obey the rules of stylistic unity but make themes and genres coexist, color and black and white, direct photography and digital montages, reflecting the liquidity of the world contemporary.
Biographical notes
Vittorio Guida (Naples, 1957) after graduating in scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, develops a passion for photography, working for publishing houses, institutions, museums, galleries, architectural studios and advertising agencies both in Italy and abroad. abroad. In the same years he also works as an assistant director for films and advertising videos. In 1991 he moved to Paris where he worked as a still photographer in the documentary film The maître de lumière, directed by Denis Guedj. Back in Italy, he became the photographer of Hands off Cain, an association for the abolition of the death penalty in the world. In 1996, together with Marcello Garofalo and Pietro Baldoni he directed the film Westmoreland Naples, selected for the 14th edition of the International Youth Cinema Festival. After several reportages in Burundi, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Kenya, Qatar and Iceland, in 2009 he moved to Beijing where he participates several times in the Vision Beijing International Photography Festival and in 2011 he presents his project Polaroid stories at the Pingyao International Photography Festival. In 2010 you collaborated with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China for the book Rebirth on the reconstruction after the Sichuan earthquake. In 2014 you participate in the Universal Forum of Culture in Naples with the exhibition Where Are We Now? Vol.1, also presented in 2015 at the third edition of the International Photography Days in Izmir, at the MSC Arts Festival in Oxford and in 2016 at the Siena Art Photo Travel.
MODENA FOUNDATION FOR VISUAL ARTS is an institution dedicated to the presentation and promotion of contemporary art and visual cultures and includes the Galleria Civica di Modena, the Modena Photography Foundation and the Museo della Figurina.
Cover image: Vittorio Guida, London, 2017 © Vittorio Guida
