CS nazionale Kusterle ENGL

KUSTERLE. The Heretic Body
Harry Bertoia Gallery
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 60 – Pordenone (Italy)
18th April – 9th August 2015
Further information and images: www.studioesseci.net
Press Release
From 18th April to 9th August, the Comune di Pordenone in collaboration with the
Associazione Culturale “Venti d’arte”, Udine, are delighted to present the first anthological
exhibition of the work of Roberto Kusterle at the Harry Bertoia Gallery. The exhibition is
curated by Francesca Agostinelli and Angelo Bertani.
Roberto Kusterle was born in 1948 in Gorizia. He began working in the field of visual arts in
the 1970s, at first concentrating on painting and installation, before turning to photography as
his primary means of expression in 1988. Beyond being a photographer, Kusterle is an artist,
with a talent for constructing original and surreal images. These micro-narrations take
humanity and the human body as their protagonists and are complex and refined
elaborations, created with material collected from nature. They are the result of a personal
research and often have a violent conceptual impact.
Every detail in the image is meticulously considered by the photographer-director: the choice
of characters, setting, lighting, scenery and makeup is all treated with patient and
painstaking skill.
The image captured by the camera is the last moment in a project that can take months or
even years to prepare. It is a moment of release after all the other moments that have
preceded it, and is in itself just the starting point for a second, long process of elaboration in
the darkroom. The end result always has a powerful visual impact where the visionary nature
of the characters and settings transport the viewer into other dimensions.
The artist seamlessly connects the human body to other biological entities, elements which
are different but not contrasting, to create an uninterrupted whole. These become archetypes
of a classical contemporary, where time seems to be suspended. These are images that
condense ideas and dreams, fantasy and reality, human and animal realms, organic and
inorganic, life and material, the unconscious and the ancestral.
Exploring the profound mystery of the origin of life, Kusterle grasps the meaning of
spirituality, which lies both within human beings and within every natural element.
The artist states: “ I bring the sensations I feel when I walk through the woods, or along the
river into my work. If I lived in a big city, I probably wouldn’t notice these things”.
“In some ways I am the first viewer to see my work and I want to hold on to this desire to be
the first to be amazed by the subject represented”.
The exhibition is spread across the first and second floors of the gallery, and is hung to
reflect the cycles of work that characterise the artist’s work. The first floor greets the visitor
with the works from the cycle Anacronos (2004-06) followed by those from the cycle Silent
Mutation (2007-08) and Stone Marks (2011-12). The central area of the gallery is dedicated
to the images from Body Rites (1991-2014), a cycle which forms a kind of thematic
collection. In this, the artist has brought together photographs taken over a long period of
time, which address questions of the body and hybridisation. The second floor hosts the
more recent cycles of work: Mutabiles Nymphae (2009-10), The Marks of Metembiosis
(2012-13), Abysses and Low Tides (2013) and The Embrace of the Forest (2014). The
exhibition is completed by a section dedicated to the video art created by Roberto Kusterle
and Ferruccio Goia (2008-09).
The curatorial choices have sought to create a narrative which does not impose itself, but
rather offers an itinerary that is open to personal interests, emotions and the opportunity for
encounter. It is like a theatrical production made of images, overturning the purist idea of the
verisimilitude of photography in order to raise questions about the relationship between,
history and mythology, natural and artificial, past and present, time and the condition of
living. We might say that this is an opportunity for the visitor to enter the living body of
photography, witnessing the (absolutely contemporary) art of metamorphosis, of the
intermingling of languages, of the variety of iconic references, and of the need for profundity
to contrast the pervasive and overwhelming superficiality that surrounds contemporary life.
The exhibition, curated by Francesca Agostinelli and Angelo Bertani, is promoted and
organised by the Assessorato alla Cultura of the Comune di Pordenone, in collaboration with
the Associazione Culturale “Venti d’arte”, Udine.
This event has been made possible thanks to the Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia,
the Provincia di Pordenone, the Università degli Studi di Udine and the Accademia di Belle
Arti di Venezia. It is supported by FriulAdria Crédit Agricole and Coop Consumatori Nordest.
Guided visits: organised by Associazione Amici della Cultura info 349 7908128
Opening times: Wednesday-Saturday: 15.30 – 19.30; Sunday: 10.00 – 13.00 and 15.30 –
19.30; closed Monday and Tuesday
Price: full € 3,00, reduced € 1,00
Info: Comune di Pordenone: (+39) 0434 392916, [email protected];
Associazione Culturale “Venti d’arte”: (+39) 339 2887440, [email protected]
On the web: www.comune.pordenone.it/galleriabertoia; www.associazioneventidarte.wordpress.com
Italian press office: Studio
[email protected]
ESSECI,
Sergio
Campagnolo,
(+39)
049
663499,
Press office Comune di Pordenone: Clelia Delponte, (+39) 0434 392924, (+39) 347
0349679, [email protected]