DOUBLE AT PALAZZO FRANCHETTI: KUMA AND MORANDI BY MEYEROWITZ

Stefano Luppi, Il Giornale dell'Arte, August 9, 2023

THE SENSORIAL PROJECTS OF THE JAPANESE ARCHITECT AND IN THE SPACE OF “MAGGIORE GALLERIA D’ARTE” (GAM) OBJECTS OF THE BOLOGNESE MASTER IN THE PICTURES OF THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHER

 

OK White Bottles» (2015), di Joel Meyerowitz
 
Kengo Kuma (Yokohama,1954), among the most important Japanese architects, uses the materials also by their emotional meaning and always looking at the Oriental building tradition. «Kengo Kuma. Onomatopoeia Architecture», edited by Chizuko Kawarada and Roberta Perazzini Calarota, also owner of the G.A.M. of Bologna, is the title of the exhibition dedicated to Kengo and organized during the 18th Mostra Internazionale d’Architettura (International Architecture Exhibition) at Acp-Palazzo Franchetti (until November 26th).
The heart of the exhibition is inspired by the phenomenon of the onomatopoeia, the act of create or use words that include sounds similar to noises which they refer to, declined for the occurrence  through the use of materials (recycled) such as wood, paper and metal «relived» through senses.The works on display are of various types, including a large temporary aluminum structure in the internal garden of the building along the Grand Canal and 22 maquettes of its most famous buildings: the Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee in Scotland (2018), the Museum of Art of Nagasaki Prefecture (2005), the Suntory Art Museum in Tokyo (2007) and many others. The path well conveys the author's design approach, capable of linking the tactile and sensorial aspect to the sensitivity for rhythm and "flow", as well as lightness and evanescence, that are typical characteristics of his work.
 
On the second noble floor of the splendid Gothic palace, the Galleria d'Arte Maggiore g.a.m. has opened its first Project Room, the new headquarters of the Bolognese space. The new course is inaugurated by the exhibition «Light-Space-Shadow. Morandi's Objects by Joel Meyerowitz", open until 31 July. Street photographer Joel Meyerowitz, pioneer of color photography, immortalized a series of objects in Giorgio Morandi's studio in Bologna.
 
Each shot is the result of a precise study on position and light so that «each object is incorporated with physical presence and a distinctive shy security», as curator Amanda Renshaw said it. Thanks to his work, the American photographer provides new tools for understanding the work of the Emilian artist, who is skilled in transforming his subjects «into something elusive, intangible and out of time».