MOSTRA fotografica Il Silenzio delle Ombre di A. Schiavano

THE ESSENCE OF THE EXHIBITION

The Silence of Shadows is a major exhibition project celebrating the return to the hometown of Antonio Schiavano, a nationally renowned visual author and photographer. The new exhibition, sponsored by the Municipality of Brindisi, the Province of Brindisi, and the Region of Puglia, brings together over 150 works and is conceived as a visual, intimate, and evocative journey through lights and absences, where the shadow becomes a matter of reflection and silent beauty. In a pathway that covers themes of beauty, the body, memory, and identity, the exhibition offers a poetic and tangible perspective on contemporary imagery.

The exhibition unfolds in 12 rooms of the historic Palazzo Nervegna in Brindisi and offers an immersive itinerary through some of the most significant series created by the author in recent years, some of which are united by the language of Fotomorfia: an artistic process that merges photography and physical manipulation of the image (scratches, solvents, paints), giving life to unique works, suspended between the visible and the invisible.

THE CONCEPT OF FOTOMORFIA

A neologism coined by the author, Fotomorfia denotes a visual language that transcends traditional photography to transform it into a physical and conceptual object. Through abrasions, overlays, and painting materials, the photographic image becomes gesture, experience, reimagined vision. The artist deconstructs and redefines the relationship between reality and representation, inviting the audience to a deep reflection on the perception of beauty and the power of art to reveal hidden meanings. Schiavano brings to light the faces and bodies that advertising photography had "standardized," rediscovering their imperfections and the depth of their souls. In this process of layering and excavation - which can be repeated multiple times - the only element that remains unchanged is the eye, the access point to inner truth. An emblem of the ability to see beyond the surface, it symbolizes a more profound, sensitive, authentic perception.

The Silence of Shadows is an invitation to see the invisible, to listen to the unspoken, to find true beauty in imperfection. In this visual silence, made of layers and material, the image becomes a sensory and conceptual experience. The works question the viewer, safeguard stories, suggest identities. They do not show: they reveal.

EXHIBITED PROJECTS

Languishing - Suspended emotions and ethereal bodies in a reflection on inner time born during the pandemic.

The Waiting - A visual narrative on vulnerability and strength, with female subjects in symbolic and scenic poses.

Reflections - Ambiguous figures and surreal reflections exploring self-acceptance through the body.

The Beauty and the Bane - Beauty deconstructed: photographs transformed with tangible techniques that challenge contemporary aesthetic ideals.

Dysmorphia - Fragmented bodies reflecting the obsession with image and distorted identity.

Professional Journey The selection on display retraces a 35-year journey in advertising photography with some of his most representative images between beauty and still life, the latter often inspired by Pop Art, with everyday objects becoming creative compositions.

Amarcord - A return to origins, with unpublished photographs of Brindisi from the 1980s, fragments of memory and youthful experimentation.

The Silence of Shadows - Shots dedicated to the Apulian cities dear to the artist, where the shadow becomes a constructive element of vision.
Web: www.antonioschiavano.com/mo...