Villa Pisani in Stra hosts a retrospective dedicated to photographer Giorgio Cutini

From December 13, 2024 to March 16, 2025, the exhibition halls of Villa Pisani in Stra (Venice) will host the exhibition Cutini. Song of the Seasons, a retrospective dedicated to Perugian photographer Giorgio Cutini, curated by Francesco Trentini. The exhibition, conceived as an introspective artistic and human journey, aims to explore the creative evolution of its author, a signatory of the Manifesto Passage to the Frontier, along with prominent figures such as Enzo Carli, Gianni Berengo Gardin and Mario Giacomelli.

Cutini, known for his innovative photography far removed from aesthetic and technical conventions, has always sought to overcome the limits of traditional representation, pushing the photographic medium toward new expressive possibilities. His images, far from mere imitation of reality, invite the viewer to a reflection on presence in absence.

A journey through four seasons of the soul

The exhibition is divided into four main sections, each representing a different season of life and vision. A universal journey of the gaze through the ages of man.

Inquietude represents the initial turmoil, awe and unease that accompany the discovery of life and reality. At this stage, the artist explores new expressive possibilities beyond the certainties of technique, allowing the conflict between the desire for control and the resistance of reality to emerge.

In Solitude, the need for an inner gaze is addressed. Through the series Egl’io, Cutini questions the archetype of the tree, a symbol of an intimate dialogue with nature and with himself.

Silence is the most intimate section, where absolute black and white becomes the protagonist. Absence, like that of the father lost at an early age, becomes a central element, explored through the vast and lonely spaces of the Apennines.

Requie(m) represents the landing place, a space of stillness that is not annihilation, but a tension toward a revelation beyond the visible. Here, the dominant black is proposed as a dimension of rest, not a radical denial of photography. As in the Rothko Chapel in Houston, black becomes a sphere of revelation, signifying that there is still hope for a possible image, a hope for the gaze of the contemporary viewer.

Villa Pisani: a place between nature and bewilderment

Villa Pisani was chosen not only for its architectural beauty, but for the disorientation that its exaggerated symmetries and labyrinthine repetitiveness can evoke. The emotional tension that runs through Cutini’s work here finds a resonance with the surrounding space, amplifying the dialogue between emptiness, nature and art. The Villa’s monumental park, with its enveloping presence, invites visitors to be guided by Cutini’s imagery, to discover a new look at nature and landscape.

The artistic journey of Giorgio Cutini

Born in 1947, Giorgio Cutini distinguished himself early on as a research photographer, experimenting with new expressive possibilities through the technical medium and the printing process. In the 1970s he recovered the discarded photogram, investigating the visual fragments unintentionally captured in film, a practice inspired by the verifications of Ugo Mulas. Cutini also documents the creative processes of other artists, finding in Mario Giacomelli and Enzo Carli privileged interlocutors. With them he contributes to the Manifesto Passaggio di frontiera (1995), which affirms the need to go beyond traditional photography in order to bring out images as traces of an experience. Throughout his career, Cutini has combined photographic research with his profession as a surgeon, also innovating in the medical field through the introduction of robotics and laparoscopy. This duality, between technique and artistic vision, permeates his work, leading the image to become a narrative source that transcends mere representation.

Hours: Tuesdays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays and holidays, including Dec. 16, 2024 to Jan. 7, 2025, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entrance to the park at 4 p.m. with mandatory exit by 5 p.m.; last entrance to the Villa at 5 p.m.).

Image: Giorgio Cutini, Restlessness, Avenue of Ideas

Villa Pisani in Stra hosts a retrospective dedicated to photographer Giorgio Cutini

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