diamonds and dust from CapeTown across the Kalahari desert, 717 kilometers of asphalt and sand, searching.
Up to Diaz Point, to meet a point, the sign of a story, in Luderitz, Namibia. That precise spot where in 1488, On his pioneering voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to the Indian Ocean, Bartolomeu Dias sailed into the inlet now known as Lüdertiz Bay. Whale vertebrae, seaweed, herds of horses in the wild, and then where did I find what I was looking for? in my room. It was there waiting to be found, in the dark, in absolute intimacy.
Hotel, 2016, Giclée Print on Natural Paper | 216 x 150 cm
Scratches, marks, experiences, like scars etched on the wall of abandoned places. Indelible memories like contemporary rock carvings. A map that describes not only a place but also a time. With the fresco tear, memory is preserved and the map immediately becomes a symbol of a collective unconscious.
South Wall 2018, silicone, paint, wire mesh, 180 x 160 cm. Photo Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio.
Are dreams experiences?
Last night I dreamt of my dear Aida from 2017, here at @galleriacontinua Le Moulin in 2019 for my solo show Sin Tiempo.
I keep reading those words and looking out of the window, toward the Ocean.
My solo show 'I DIDN'T SEE YOU' at
166 ARTSPACE – SHANGHAI, CHINA is about to close, I want to thank @ruff.andrew and @artcaffe_byraffaellagallo to make this dream come true. Another big thank to @galleriacontinua to support me in this amazing journey. Last Oct 25, 2021 I have been gifted with this amazing test by Andrew, I want you all to be able to read it. Here it goes. “The dichotomies in Giovanni Ozzola’s art are deceptively simple – light and darkness, nature and man, the temporal and the infinite. It is the tension between these dichotomies and the fact that his work’s structure and scale deny the viewer a neutral perspective that generate a feeling of dizzying awe. Giovanni seeks to transform his audience from observers to participants. In his breakthrough video “Garage” we move from darkness to light as a steel garage door opens slowly to reveal a resplendent sea scape. But it soon becomes apparent that there is no defined boundary between the stark interior of the garage and the encroaching ocean leaving the viewer with a strange sense of relief as the door closes and they are returned to their blackened box. In his bunker photographs, several of which are on display in this exhibition, the artist contrasts the magnificent mountain top vistas from his chosen home on the Canary Islands with the decaying concrete shells through which they are viewed. These shells often stained with the detritus of intervening human visitation seem to be conceding to their inevitable evisceration by the relentless forces of the natural environment in which they are perched. Our own collection includes a photograph of Giovanni’s in which majestic sand dunes tumble through an abandoned warehouse beautifully illuminated by beams of light seeping through the rafters. It is at once a soothing work resting above our dining room table and consumed daily with joy and a persistent reminder that as the sands encroach the remaining human space will fill and darkness will descend upon us. As with the characters in the novels of one of his favorite authors, Murakami, Ozzola casts his audience as lonely protagonists adrift in a sea of surreality.
seven years peeling off walls
Seven years have passed since the first "strappo d'affresco" or peeling off, tearing off or whatever you want to call it. I am glad to have been able to show these cuties around the globe, Cuba, France, Uk, China, Italy, Hong Kong, Mexico and South Africa.
As a young artist, I always hoped to be a source of inspiration…
Traces of Wind at @GalleriaContinua Beijing #798artzone here two works from 2021, Contando Estrellas and Ōṁ. As ShenQilan wrote “There is nothing but silence,
Only the wind seems to blow through.
On the island at the end of the world,
Only the starry sky and loneliness remain as new.
This is a long journey. Giovanni Ozzola has transformed Galleria Continua into an island, bringing the starry sky above the Canary Islands in Spain and the surface of the Atlantic Ocean to the gallery space. The viewers will find themselves immersed in the scenery, experiencing the sunrise and sunset on the Atlantic Island, feeling the winds of time blowing through life.”
Traces of Wind @galleriacontinua Beijing
My solo show "Búnkeres y Estrellas" at Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes de Santa Cruz de Tenerife is closing to the public on the 15th of December.
The show was organised on the occasion of @fotonoviembre.tfe, the international festival of photography of Tenerife, organised by @cabildotenerife in collaboration with @teatenerife, and for this edition directed and curated by Teresa Arozena (@shoottheclock).
I would like to thank everyone involved in the making of the exhibition and those who managed to see it. Just a few days before it closes to the public, so make sure you don't miss on the occasion if you haven't been able to see it yet!
More info is available at www.fotonoviembre.org
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Image: Giovanni Ozzola, White Image, 2004, Giclée Print on cotton paper, Dibond, frame 140 x 112cm #giovanniozzola #fotonoviembre #búnkeresyestrellas #tenerife #santacruzdetenerife #museomunicipaldebellasartestenerife #contemporaryart #photography
"Light and darkness, nature and man, the temporal and the infinite. It is the tension between these dichotomies and the fact that his work’s structure and scale deny the viewer a neutral perspective that generate a feeling of dizzying awe…"
An extract from the beautiful text @ruff.andrew wrote on the occasion of I DIDN'T SEE YOU, my solo show at 166 Art Space, Shanghai. If you haven't had the chance to see the exhibition yet, it will stay open until February 28, 2022.
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Image: I DIDN'T SEE YOU, 2021, installation view. Courtesy 166 Art Space. #giovanniozzola #andrewruff #166artspace #ididntseeyou #shanghai #contemporaryart #photography #newexhibition
On the occasion of this year’s IN · SHANGHAI ARTFEST, I am thrilled to announce I will be participating in The Urban Adventure Spatial Art Exhibition opening this Friday 26 November 2021 at THE INLET, Shanghai.
Along with myself and 26 other artists from all over the world, the exhibition sees the participation of architects, designers, science fiction writers and experts from a wide variety of disciplines, presenting a potpourri of art pieces in a setting of Shanghai’s unique Shikumen (“Stone Gate”) buildings. As such, the exhibition does not only create an urban adventure of art, but also narrates the history and memories of Shanghai, offering visitors a journey through the passage of time embracing heritage of the past, fulfillment of the present and aspirations for the future.
The show is curated by Robin Wong and will stay open until March 31, 2022. Hope you’ll be able to see it!
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Image: Giovanni Ozzola, Trino, 2019, Giclée Print on cotton paper, Dibond, frame, 150 x 216cm @artpioneerstudio #giovanniozzola #contemporaryart #shanghaiartfest #theurbanadventure #robinwong #shanghai #theinlet #artsfestival #newexhibition
A few shots from my latest exhibition at @galleriacontinua, San Gimignano in collaboration with Kiki Smith, "Giovanni Ozzola invites Kiki Smith".
If you haven't had the chance to see it yet, it will stay open until the 6th of January 2022 for public viewing. More info on how to book your visit is available on www.galleriacontinua.com
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Credit: [1, 3] Photo: OKNO Studio #giovanniozzola #kikismith #giovanniozzolainviteskikismith #galleriacontinua #contemporaryart #exhibition #photography #sculpture
Happy to announce I will be participating in the 4th edition of ART & SOLIDARITY – @associazioneartecontinua's non-profit charitable project – by donating one of my artworks to put up for auction that will help to fund and support the Tianzige Elementary School of the Guizhou province in China through its proceeds.
ART & SOLIDARITY was established in 2017 to help fund the Tianzige Elementary School through art. After the strenuous efforts of Associazione Arte Continua, the funds raised by the project has brought positive social impact and has attracted much attention and recognition from galleries, artists, and collectors in the industry. For this year's edition, Associazione Arte Continua and Tianzige Public-welfare will collaborate with 11 international galleries, 28 artists, and collectors.
Myself, and the others involved are together to uphold our initial faith in the "ART & SOLIDARITY" project, and to confirm our commitment to improve charity strength and giving art a central role in cities and the countryside.
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Image: Giovanni Ozzola, A song with no end, 2021, Giclée print on cotton paper, Dibond, framed, museum glass, 130 x 90cm, charity 021 shanghai 2021. #giovanniozzola #associazioneartecontinua #artandsolidarity #tianzigeelementaryschool #guizhou #china #charity #contemporaryart #artauction
Non finisce né inizia il viaggio. Ne siamo dentro. In riposo. Sulla barca che va “nella luce che abbaglia” di un altro giorno che comincia, o che muore. Ci faremo indistinti nella grande luce, e non più soli.
Pier Luigi Tazzi
Introduzione in 10 paragrafi casuali, Giovanni Ozzola, 2004, GliOri
Scrolling through the photo library of my phone and coming across this one. Shot on July 20, 2021. Good memories.
#journal #viewfromthewindow #photography
This is "Contando estrellas", and it can be seen currently both at @galleriacontinua, San Gimignano and 166 ArtSpace, Shanghai.
I took this photograph of a starry sky during the lockdown period in 2020. An homage to Giotto, it's the result of the countless nights where I would find myself gazing at the night sky from the roof of my house to count the stars before my eyes one by one. Stars give our precise position on earth and the escape route to an unknown place. They are also a measure of time, days and phases, the direction to follow; a limitless horizon. And this is probably why I feel so attracted to them.
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Image: Giovanni Ozzola, Contando estrellas, 2021, Giclée Print on cotton paper, Dibond, frame, 150 x 224 cm. #giovanniozzola #contandoestrellas #galleriacontinua #166artspace #sangimignano #shanghai #giotto #photography #contemporaryart
Tenerife to Shanghai and back… Happy to announce my new solo-exhibition "I Didn't See You" is inaugurating today, Saturday 30 October, at 166 Art Space in Shanghai, 3–7pm.
I have deeply enjoyed working on the exhibition in these last few months and I look forward for everyone to see it. If you're about in Shanghai make sure you don't miss it! The exhibition will stay open to the public until February 28, 2022.
For more information on opening hours and how to get to 166 Art Space please visit www.166artspace.com
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#giovanniozzola #ididntseeyou #166artspace @ruff.andrew @galleriacontinua #shanghai #newexhibition #contemporaryart #photography #installation
"Búnkeres y Estrellas" is officially opening to the public today at Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Thanks to @fotonoviembre.tfe and @shoottheclock for allowing me to present two new solo exhibitions!
I planned the project on the occasion of the festival with the idea of facilitating an encounter between the pictorial tradition of Tenerife's local landscape and my own photographic view of the island. It is an investigation of the ways I approach and communicate with my surroundings, and an opportunity to foster a dialogue between my artworks and the collection of the museum in which past and present converge.
The show is open for everyone to see from Tuesday to Friday, 10 am to 8 pm, and on the weekend from 10 am to 5 pm.
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#giovanniozzola #búnkeresyestrellas #fotonoviembre #museomunicipaldebellasartestenerife #santacruzdetenerif #newexhibition #contemporaryart
I am pleased to announce the opening of "I Didn't See You", my new solo exhibition at 166 Art Space, Shanghai, this Saturday, 30 October, from 3 – 7 pm.
"I Didn't See You" furthers the play on those dichotomies that have been a central part of my artistic practice. From my Bunker photographs series to the engraved propeller sculpture installation, the exhibition project is inspired by my continuous search for the Pillars of Hercules and seeks to transform the audience from observers to participants by asking them to gaze at the unknown while clinging to the last borders of civilization.
The exhibition will stay open for public viewing until February 28, 2022. More information about the opening times will be available on the project space's website.
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Image: Giovanni Ozzola, where are you ?, 2021, Glicée print on cotton paper, passepartout, Dibond, framed, 150 x 224cm, On Consignment. #giovanniozzola #ididntseeyou #166artspace @ruff.andrew @galleriacontinua #shanghai #contemporaryart
One week to go!
Install days at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife's Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes for the opening of "Búnkeres y Estrellas", one of my two solo-projects part of this year's edition of @fotonoviembre.tfe.
The exhibition will be open for public viewing from October 29 to December 15, 2021. I look forward to seeing you all there!
@shoottheclock #fotonoviembre #reensemblaje #búnkeresyestrellas #museomunicipaldebellasartestenerife #contemporaryart