Science, nature and discovery in the photos of Gianfranco Merati who uses his photographic practice to explore and test the limits of visual perception.
His photos will be present for the first time in Italy, from 14 to 28 June, in the photographic exhibition “Beauty is everywhere”, inaugurated yesterday by Count Alessandro Marcucci Pinoli, with the presence of the author Gianfranco Merati, at the Galleria degli Mirrors of the Alexander Museum Palace Hotel in Pesaro (Viale Trieste 20, 0721/34441), a place steeped in art and culture. We remember that the count inaugurates an exhibition every two weeks in his hotel museum.
The attention of Merati, a self-taught photographer, is focused on abstract and conceptual photography, which however starts from the reality that we cannot grasp with our eyes.
New aspects of a portion of the world that surrounds us have been revealed by some of his photographs and this is fascinating.
Exploring the complex geometry found in nature, he created many photographic series.
These are often the result of research on the properties of certain materials or phenomena, although sometimes his ideas arise from very simple things, such as the observation of a leaf which nevertheless retains a surprising beauty in its internal structure.
The geometry of nature in microscopic structures is a great inspiration for the artist, pushing boundaries, assiduously seeking beauty and the invisible while leaving room for the viewer to engage their imagination.
So, looking at his photos, a hidden world opens up, like flowers inside droplets of magnetized fluid, colored ice floes inside sugar crystals and more, wanting to give people the opportunity to see the beauty of the elementary structures of nature that otherwise would not be seen.
Using both high-tech methods and an innovative use of basic media, each final image verges on the unreal, despite Merati not digitally manipulating his images.
“I am a photographer, I like to make the impossible possible, I like to take the tools I have and probe them deeper, I like to look for beauty where others find none. Beauty is everywhere, often just waiting to be found. I like the unconventional. Photography wouldn’t be worth it to me if I couldn’t produce a little magic with it,” his website reads.
The Pesaro photographer Gianfranco Merati, a citizen of the world as he was born in Asmara (Eritrea) and now lives in London, has also stayed in Africa and other parts of the world, carrying out various projects in Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and China, to reveal that “beauty is everywhere”.
For the first time in Italy, the extraordinary images of Gianfranco Merati (already winner of numerous prestigious international awards in London, New York, Paris, Moscow, Los Angeles and Tokyo, just to name a few) make visiting the exhibition an opportunity worth don’t miss out.
The circumstance is also unique to visit all the works on display in the most unique hotel in Pesaro and beyond, and sleep in a work of art, enjoying the benefits of art therapy.
We remember briefly that Count Alessandro Marcucci Pinoli, in the four-year construction of his hotel, entrusted each room to an artist, who left his signature inside with his own artistic creations.
Jewel of contemporary architecture, designed by Arnaldo and Giò Pomodoro, Mimmo Paladino, Chia and others, the Alexander Museum Palace Hotel which stands on the Pesaro seafront, is an original contamination between tourist stay and cultural event.
It is among the 10 best art hotels in Europe, the only Italian one and was included in the 2011 Venice Biennale as a “non-transportable work”.
Vito Piepoli
AWARDS RECEIVED by Gianfranco Merati:
– International Photography Awards, 2023, Silver Medal – Los Angeles
– Minimalist Photography Awards, 2023, Silver Medal
– reFocus Awards, 2023, Silver Medal – New York
– PX3, 2023, one silver and two bronze medals – Paris
– London Photography Awards, 2023, winner of Photographer of the Year, 3 platinum medals and 14 gold medals — London
– FAPA, 2022, four-time nominee – London
– London International Creative Competition 2022, two projects among the top 15 finalists – London
– TIFA, 2022, one gold and one bronze medal – Tokyo
– New York Photography Award, 2022, one gold medal and 11 silver medals – New York
– MIFA, 2022, Gold Medal, Category Winner — Moscow
– MIFA, 2022, Silver Medals x2, Category Winner — Moscow
– MIFA, 2022, Bronze Medal, Category Winner — Moscow
– TIFA, 2021, second place overall, category winner – Tokyo
– TIFA, 2021, Gold Medal, Category Winner — Tokyo
– TIFA, 2021, Silver Medal, Category Winner — Tokyo
– BIFA, 2021, Silver Medal, Category Winner — Budapest
– BIFA, 2021, Bronze Medal, Category Winner — Budapest
– PX3, 2021, Bronze Medal, Category Winner — Paris
