2018
The Art Of Shade
The M.A.C.-Musica Arte Spettacolo in Milano is now featuring The Art Of Shade, a show of LA Graffiti, shot by the photographer Andrea “Jako Vonjako” Giacomini, complemented each by the addition of Saturnino Celani’s shades. (testo italiano qui)
Saturnino is a musician. He plays bass in the group of Italian rock legend Lorenzo Cherubini (aka “Jovanotti”). He is also a designer of eyewear in the enterprise co-founded with Claudio Terruzzi.
The story goes that Saturnino met Andrea – now a resident of Los Angeles for twenty years – in 2007, during the registration in LA of Jovanotti’s album Safari (2008). Being both from Ascoli Piceno, they quickly made friends, having a good time together, touring the surroundings between recording sessions.
Completed the album, Saturnino and Andrea kept in touch and later, when Andrea visited Saturnino’s show-room, the musician homaged him with a series of his creations.
Since then, Andrea Giacomini has been thoroughly scouring the counties around LA, visiting all sites where he knew he would find interesting graffiti. He would look for art pieces depicting ordinary people, imaginary characters as well as celebrities. He would then “mechanically” combine them with Saturnino’s eyewear and shoot.
The pictures exposed at the MAC of Piazza Tito Lucrezio Caro in Milan, curated by Angelo Crespi and Silvia Basta, are the product of this project: The Art Of Shade.
«The murals – writes Angelo Crespi in the catalog – remain a mid-cult, low-league product […] dated even when new, no sooner painted and already old, out of style and only a revitalization through another medium [photography] redeemes them from extreme kitsch and quick consumption. So, Vovjanko does an operation which in primis is aesthetic, then philosophical and, finally, conceptual, producing a more convincing metatext from a poor text.»
