[artist profile]
Gea Casolaro (Rome, 1965), is an Italian artist based in Rome and Paris. Her work investigates, through photography, video and writing, our relationship with images, current affairs, society, history. Her research aims to activate a permanent dialogue between experiences and people, in order to expand the ability to analyze the real through the views of others. In 2009, Gea Casolaro was in a nine months residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris to work on her Still here project on the relationship between cinema and everyday life in the French capital, a work exhibited in a solo show at The Gallery Apart in 2013. In 2011, on occasion of the LIV Biennale in Venice, Italian Pavilion in the world, she exhibited at the Italian Institute of Culture in Strasbourg a series of works on the theme of borders. In 2012 she participated in the Images Festival in Vevey, Switzerland. In 2013 Gea Casolaro was in residence for three months at the Italian Institute of Culture in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, working collectively with a group of students from the Alle School of Fine Arts and Design entitled Sharing Gazes. In the same year she made two commissioned photographic missions: the first in Monaco (the work Forever Monte–Carlo was exhibited at The Forbes Galleries in New York); the second in Luxembourg at the CNA Centre nationale de l’audiovisuel, where she created a portrait of the country’s complex facets through an exhibition of mail-art, entitled Send Me a Postcard, a site aside, inside, in between, away. In 2015 she was in residence for over two months at the Italian Institute of Culture in Lima for a participatory art project inspired by the work of the Andean photographer Martin Chambi, with a group of students from the Centro de la Imagen. In 2016 she was the winning artist of the competition of the Municipality of Casale Monferrato for the realization of a monument of public art for the “Parco Eternot” born on the site where the infamous Eternit factory stood. In 2020 Gea Casolaro won the 8th edition of the Italian Council with the project “Mare Magnum Nostrum”, whose definitive version is permenent exhibited at Museo Nazionale di Ravenna In 2021 she participated in the “Io dico Io – I say I” exhibition at La Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. In the beginning of 2023 Gea Casolaro was selected for the exhibition at La Galleria Nazionale titled “Un presente indicativo”.
Works of hers are present in many public collections, including at MAXXI – Museo della Arti del XXI secolo Rome, CNA – Centre National de l’Audiovisuel, Dudelange Luxembourg, Mart – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Museo Nazionale di Ravenna, MU.SP.A.C. Museo Sperimentale d’Arte Contemporanea dell’Aquila, Collezione Farnesina Experimenta Rome, Collezione della Fondazione Quadriennale di Roma.
[selected works]
To the Fallen of Today, partial view of the installation at Spazio Murat in Bari, 2022
Molto visibile, troppo invisibile, 2019, video-installation, video colour HD, 00:54:00, installation view at The Gallery Apart Rome Vivaio Eternot, 2016, monument inside the Eternot Park, Casale Monferrato Maybe in Sarayevo, 1998-99, 60 photos printed on aluminum, Collezione MAXXI, installation view at MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo Rome SEND ME A POSTCARD a site, aside, inside, in between, away, 2013, installation view at CNA Centre national de l’audiovisuel, Dudelange, Luxembourg, istallation, photographies, mail art, participatory art, variable dimension (32 photos cm 30×42,5×2 + 1 foto cm 30x340x2 + x postcards) Con lo sguardo dell´altro, installation view at Macro, Museo d´Arte contemporanea Rome
Molto visibile, troppo invisibile, 2019, video-installation, video colour HD, 00:54:00, installation view at The Gallery Apart Rome, ph. Giorgio Benni Il cielo stellato e la legge morale, 2019, world physical map, telescope, ph. Giorgio Benni Mancanza di riflessione (original title: Non siamo che immagini negli occhi degli altri), 1994, three partially abraded mirrors, 40 x 40 cm each, ph. Giorgio Benni Specchio delle mie brame, 2019, wood and plexiglass, 160 x 80 x 8 cm, ph. Giorgio Benni La costruzione, 2018, video loop, 00:16:00, installation view at Archivio Storico Capitolino Il legame con la storia libera l’immaginazione, 2017, installation view at Liceo Ennio Quirino Visconti Rome Sharing Gazes_Meskel Square #1, photo-collage on Dibond, cm 53,25 x 100 Sharing Gazes_Merkato #4, photo-collage on Dibond, cm 74,44 x 130 El tiempo de alzar los ojos, 2015, installation view at Istituto Italiano di cultura Lima, Perù Con lo sguardo dell´altro, installation view at Macro, Museo d´Arte contemporanea Rome Still here, Angel-A – Pont Alexandre III, 2009-2013, digital photo print on aluminium, cm 59X100x2 Still here_Paris je t’aime_rue du javelot, 2009-2013, digital photo print on aluminium, cm 66x100x2 Forever Montecarlo – Jean Cocteau_Opéra, 2013, digital photo print on aluminium, cm 67x100x2 Forever Montecarlo – Salvador Dali_Terrasse Opéra, 2013, digital photo print on aluminium, cm 67x100x2 ON THE TIMELINE, 2011-2017, inkjet print on paper and frame, cm 99 x 77,5 South #1, 2008-2010, digital print on Perspex, cm 70×100 Mille e una di queste notti, 2011-2012, video, 00:22:57, Collezione MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo Rome Quel che ancora brucia, 2007 video installation, fireplace, video 2,46 min, Collezione Mart – Museo d’arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Permanente Presenza_Passo Vizze, 2007, photo printed on aluminum, cm 70x105x2 Visioni dell´EUR – Enrichetta e L’eclisse, 2002/2006, photo printed on alumium, cm 70×100 Mare Magnum Nostrum, partial view of the installation at Museo Nazionale di Ravenna, ph. Francesco Rucci To the Fallen of Today, partial view of the installation at Spazio Murat in Bari, 2022
Un presente indicativo, curated by A. Tolve, Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Roma, 2023