This is the first retrospective of Richard Mosse in Bologna, Italy
The Photography, without a doubt, it is not a canvas that is indifferent to everything that happens around it. In recent decades, it has been able to portray the most sensitive side of a migratory crisis that is becoming more acute, in addition to conflicts, vast transformations in nature and the relentless advance of climate change.
In fact, they are artists like Richard Mosse who are dedicated to exploring the boundaries between documentary photography and contemporary art through the motifs mentioned here, and for the first time his work is brought together in one place, resulting in the first retrospective of the artist in Mast Foundation , in Bologna.
Originally from Ireland, Richard Mosse he began his photographic career in the early 2000s, while completing his university studies. His early field work included full immersion in places like bosnian , the Gaza Strip and the border between Mexico and the United States . Back then, his Photography it was characterized by the almost total absence of human figures.
Richard Mosse's exhibition in Bologna includes his early works
In fact, the only images that showed figures in action are those that made up the Breach series (2009) , which focused on us army and the imperial palaces of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. his first Photographs were in charge of documenting the war aftermath , did not show the conflict itself, on the contrary, they denoted the world after the catastrophe.
His drive to portray the different social, economic and political changes taking place in vast parts of the globe has led him to travel to the eastern region of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . His lens immortalized a colossal area ravaged by coltan, a highly toxic mineral, and after that, Richard chose to continue working with Kodak Aerochrome , an infrared-sensitive military reconnaissance film. "In the shots, the film records the chlorophyll in the vegetation and makes the invisible visible, resulting in the lush congo rain forest become a beautiful surreal landscape in shades of pink and red "says the artist.
Later, Richard explored the mass migration and began a vast tour of the Skaramagas refugee camps in Greece , the Nizip I and Nizip II camps in the province of Gaziantep in Turkey , the refugee camp in the area of the former Tempelhof airport in berlin , and many others, until he was absorbed in the wealth of the nature and he chose to capture the risks that climate change brings, in order to promote conversations and actions in this regard.
Richard Mosse's work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
THE RICHARD MOSSE RETROSPECTIVE IN BOLOGNA
Now, in 2021, the exposition titled Displaced offers a tour of the Mosse's works , which extends from his first works to his latest, Tristes Tropiques, a series that puts the destruction of the brazilian amazon ecosystem while he uses a photographic technique showing environmental damage that is difficult for the human eye to perceive.
"The exhibition is exhibited in three large areas of Mast Foundation , with more than 70 large paintings and 4 complex video installations. The point was to put Richard Mosse's photographs into an interesting, exciting and ongoing dialogue. And to do this, we wanted to bring the most important works of collectors from all over the world to Bologna . We're glad he managed to do it," he says. Urs Stahel , curator of the exhibition, to Traveler.es in an interview via email.
The exhibited photos of Richard Mosse they show traces of fire advancing along the roots of the forests, the effects of intensive cattle ranching and illegal gold and mineral mining. "There are two narrative threads that complement each other, that swirl. On the one hand, the social content of the images. Richard Mosse he wants to use his images and videos to draw our attention to core human behaviors and conflicts. On the other hand, his examination of the images of the conflict, trying to renew the worlds of the image of the conflict photography with different media, especially with the use of infrared material, with heat cameras, with ultraviolet or multispectral light film material," he adds.
The first retrospective of the Irish artist Richard Mosse will be available until September 19 at Fondazione Mast.
Photograph of Richard Mosse in Brazil