EPPURE LE RUPPE | GIORGIA GARZILLI

Giorgia Garzilli (Naples, 1992) views cinematic production as the main representative of collective cultural identity. A fitting example supporting this thesis is the famous scene of Jack and Rose on the bow of the Titanic: even if seen in passing on a poster, in an advertisement, or during a night of channel surfing, almost everyone knows which image we are talking about, making it, in fact, shared knowledge.
The artist uses visual language to explore and define this cultural identity. In fact, the images chosen as subjects by the artist are scenes from Hollywood movies and famous TV shows, which Garzilli appropriates and reinterprets through her own stylistic language.

A magnetic gaze is one of the two central elements of Eppure le ruppe (2023), a small painting created with oil and acrylic on canvas. The gaze belongs to Claire Danes, the actress who played Juliet in the film Romeo + Juliet (1996) directed by Baz Luhrmann. The scene painted by Garzilli in this artwork indeed comes from this film, specifically the moment in which the protagonist takes her own life with a gunshot to the head. The weapon is the second central element of the composition, in perfect contrast with the sweet and innocent, yet desperate, expression of the woman.
The sepia tones contribute to creating a dialogue between the past and present, between memory and its contemporary interpretation.

An interesting installation of Eppure le ruppe, along with other artworks included in this series, was presented in the exhibition RENAISSANCE (23.03-01.09.2024), curated by Leonie Radine and currently on view at Museion, for which the studio (ab)Normal designed the exhibition architecture: the paintings, enclosed in nutwood frames, were hung above a large black cloth, a sort of funeral curtain that imparts a dramatic and theatrical note to Garzilli’s work.

Through a skillful use of sepia tones and a meticulously crafted installation, Garzilli’s artworks offer a new perspective on the images that have pervaded our cinematic cultural imagination, inviting us to reconsider their meaning and impact on collective memory.

Giorgia Garzilli
Eppure le ruppe, 2023
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 20 x 12 cm
Photo: Matteo Natalucci. Courtesy zaza’ Milano/Napoli

Giorgia Garzilli, exhibition view RENAISSANCE, 23.03—01.09.2024, Museion. Photo: Luca Guadagnini.

27/07/24