Giovanni Ozzola

forme, 2020 appunti senza interventi.
istanbul, livorno, beijing, patresi, sinai e una lucciola, 2020
Video colour H.264 AAC, 4’40’’, 2 channels
© Giovanni Ozzola

Giovanni Ozzola’s main interests concern the conceptualization and representation of infinity and both geographical and introspective exploration through the contamination of different techniques: photography, videos, installations, engravings and traditional techniques, amongst which “strappo d’affresco” (detachment of wall paintings).
In the video forme, 2020 appunti senza interventi. istanbul.livorno.beijing.patresi.sinai e una lucciola he creates a montage of various recordings made between 2003 and 2012 in the cities quoted in the title. By the very absence of their rounded forms, these places remind the artist of the Volterra hills, which are so important for the research of Staccioli and all the artists that were born or lived there.
In line with Ozzola’s work, this video is made of images and light. Time flows in the light and the instants multiply and become real. While the images alludes to a possible storyline, there is none. Therefore, the spectator is projected into an infinite spaceless and timeless dimension, within a visual horizon where it is possible to lose yourself and let yourself go to every emotion and memory. The artist’s emotional transport can indeed be seen in the recordings and editing of the video. And it is thanks to this emotional transport that the video transports the subjective perception of the reality that surrounds us.

“I grew up in a magical land, on the tops 
of hills, there are always shapes
in the most beautiful or significant places.
They’re perfect, geometrical shapes, they were there,
they’d always been there, it was normal for them to be there.
 It was their place, it was their birthright.
Only many years later did I discover that other lands
didn’t have this, only then did I understand how
lucky I’d been to grow up with the 
materialization of Mauro’s ideas. 
This video which collects uncut notes  
from 2003 to 2012 is for him.” (Giovanni Ozzola)

Giovanni Ozzola (Florence, 1982) lives and works in the Canary Islands.
A selection of his most recent solo exhibitions includes “Octillion”, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano 2019; “If I Had to Explain, You Wouldn’t Understand”, Fosun Foundation Shanghai 2019; “Algo Tuyo y Mío”, Centro Fundación Unicaja, Málaga 2018 and Almería 2019; “Rutas de Sangre”, cloister of the Convento de San Francisco de Asís, Basílica Menor, La Habana 2018; “Fallen Blossoms – Whispering”, Galleria Continua, 798, Beijing 2017; “Relitti e camere con stelle”, Untitled Association-Lynchen, Berlin 2017 and “Adrift”, District 6 Museum, Cape Town 2016.
His most recent group exhibitions include: “Kronos e Kairos”, Roman Forum and Palatine, Parco Archeologico del Colosseo, Rome 2019; “Recto Verso”, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris 2018; “Insights”, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai 2018 and “LANDSEASKY: Revisiting Spatiality in Video Art”, touring exhibition, MAAP, Seoul 2014.
Website: www.giovanniozzola.com

in dialogue with Mauro Staccioli, Barriera, 1972-2015, Badia Camaldolese, Volterra.

Photo by S. Borghesi