Cabinet Art Foundation DZ BANK

"Pietro Donzelli - Aria di Napoli"
An exhibition in the "Kabinett" of the DZ BANK Art Foundation

The exhibition "Pietro Donzelli: Aria di Napoli" will be shown in the "Kabinett" of the DZ BANK Art Foundation this fall from 4.9. to 28.10.2024 on the occasion of this year's book fair - with Italy as the guest country. The photographer is considered one of the most important representatives of Italian Neorealismo and his photographs, most of which were taken between 1948 and 1952, take a poetic look at Naples in the post-war period. The exhibition was realized in cooperation with Renate Siebenhaar and the Estate Pietro Donzelli.

As a soldier between 1943 and 1945, Pietro Donzelli was deeply affected by the horrors of war. After the end of the war, he returned to his home town of Milan and devoted himself to photography alongside his work as a technical draughtsman for the local telephone company. Pietro Donzelli had a decisive influence on the theoretical discourse of avant-garde photography in Italy through his involvement in the magazine "Fotografia" and a photographers' association, and through the organization of international exhibitions. 

As a passionate cineaste, he came into contact with the lighting techniques of the cameraman Lion Nee, whom he admired, on film sets in Milan. Nee translated the lighting techniques of the painter Caravaggio (1571-1610) into the moving images of black-and-white film. Pietro Donzelli's cinematic vision was also influenced by the film production of so-called Neorealismo (ca. 1943-1954). Italian neorealism expanded the documentary visual language to include a socio-political dimension and distanced itself from the papier-mâché-like images and glorified narratives of pre-war fascist propaganda.

However, the artist's view goes beyond socially critical aspects. He sees ordinary people as almost archaic figures in their immediate surroundings: mostly outdoors, in the city, in the countryside or by the sea. Everyday scenes of work, of being together and alone, of waiting and lingering, of sleeping and resting are given a contemplative, poetic dimension in Pietro Donzelli's photographs. After the trauma of war, for him the essential task of photography is to "bring people closer to their own kind", to bring humanity and humanity to the fore. Against the backdrop of the great landscapes of post-war Italy, the artist created atmospheric images that cast an existentialist gaze on people and the reality of their lives.

Pietro Donzelli originally conceived his early Naples series as a narrative unit under the title "Aria di Napoli" and planned it as a book. The Italian art historian Ennery Taramelli has now researched the photographer's archives, personal notes and correspondence and reconstructs his appreciation of Naples and its inhabitants 70 years later in a new publication. The individual chapters and the compilation of the photographic works contained therein follow the artist's notes and comments. For the first time, the Naples pictures are being made available to the public in book form in a concentrated selection under the title developed by Pietro Donzelli.

Pietro Donzelli was born in Monte-Carlo, Monaco in 1915 and died in Milan, Italy in 1998. The artist's archive and webpage can be found at www.pietrodonzelli.com.  

Exhibition Hall Art Foundation DZ BANK

Inclined to the collection. Photo Museum Winterthur

The exhibition "Towards the Collection - Constellation 2" is a presentation of the collection of the Fotomuseum Winterthur and is being realized in collaboration with the DZ BANK Art Foundation. Nadine Wietlisbach, Director of the Fotomuseum Winterthur, has accepted the invitation of Dr. Christina Leber, Artistic Director of the DZ BANK Art Foundation, to present a station of the exhibition "The Collection Inclined" at the DZ BANK Art Foundation during the renovation of her museum in Switzerland. The curator of the collection at Museum Winterthur, Alessandra Nappo, has put together a multifaceted and exciting exhibition under the subtitle "Constellations 2", which we are showing in the rooms of the art foundation in Frankfurt on the occasion of the international triennial of photography RAY, which will be held in 2024 under the title ECHOES. The resonance that emanates from Alessandra Nappo's selection revolves not only around questions of identity and the body, but also around a critical examination of media use in an age of increasing digitalization.
With this show, the Fotomuseum Winterthur provides an insight into the institution's activities through selected works from its collection. The Fotomuseum Winterthur sees itself as a leader in the presentation and discussion of photography and visual culture. Works by a total of 16 photographers and artists are on display - including well-known names and new discoveries.

Exhibition
Kabinett:
"Pietro Donzelli - Aria di Napoli"
Sep 04 - Oct 28
Special event as part of the book fair: Wednesday, 16.10.2024, 6 pm

Exhibition hall:
Diane Arbus, Lewis Baltz, Tina Barney, Hannah Collins, Anna Ehrenstein, Matthias Gabi, Nan Goldin, Roc Herms, Roni Horn, Zoe Leonard, Marc Lee, Mark Morrisroe, Frida Orupabo, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, John Yuyi
Towards the collection. Fotomuseum Winterthur
Jun 28 - Sep 28

Contact
Claudia Haevernick
Platz der Republik
60325 Frankfurt am Main

kunststiftungdzbank.de
presse@kunststiftungdzbank.de