14th November 2015 – 9th January 2016
L’Ariete Artecontemporanea
via D’Azeglio 42, Bologna
www.galleriaariete.it
Rituals are activities which follow predefined rules. Often they pursue formal and festive ceremonies with a great symbolic import. They can be of religious or secular origin.
The current exhibition of the Bolognese Gallery “L’Ariete Artecontemporanea” shows the photographic view on contemporary Italian rituals by Luciano Leonotti. On the first hand one might expect photos of well known Italian rituals like processions, funerals or perhaps government ceremonies, depictured by staged arrangements.
However, the photos of Luciano Leonotti have nothing prearranged, even though the composition of the pictures witnesses the carefully calculated formal choice of the author. At the same time the images are spontaneous like snapshots. This is important for the content of the photos; because they show by no means only traditional rituals and even the traditional ones are focused in an unexpected way. So the scenes witness not only Italian rituals; they might be as well European or western life style images.
In this sense the pictures are documenting common situations: a motorcyclist is just arriving or getting ready to depart; a couple is having a picnic at a forest lakeside; we see people at the beach or doing a boat tour. Additionally there are as well more “Italian” scenes like it might be expected. Nevertheless, the hints to their origin are not always easy to identify: a funeral image can be associated to its item but by the traditional flower decoration; a tifoso is only Italian by the Italian tricolour painted in his face; a tourist group can be as well from elsewhere, but is situated in Rome at the Circus Maximus.
All these images and many others more, are far from being arranged like pretentious festive ceremonies. They are showing daily life scenes that became more or less profane rituals.
