Giovanni Chiaramonte. Infinite realism

The Diocesan Museum pays tribute to Giovanni Chiaramonte (Varese 1948 - Milan 2023), considered one of the greatest masters of Italian photography, with an exhibition celebrating his unique contribution to the poetic and conceptual redefinition of the contemporary landscape image.

The exhibition presents 40 images more than 20 years of research, from the 1980 to the early years of 2000, on the theme of landscape and the urban view, central themes in Chiaramonte's photography and theoretical reflection. This visual journey explores the pivotal points of Western history and identity, starting from the’Italy, whose landscape, shaped by centuries of cultural stratification, becomes the key to interpreting the entire West, its character and destiny.

On a journey that touches Athens e Rome, crosses Berlin and reaches as far as Bosphorus and to Jerusalem, Chiaramonte has immortalised the vestiges of the Old Continent, in search of the roots of our civilisation. His exploration extends as far as the United States and to theCentral America, tracing the path of the West, suspended between tradition and a changing future.

The journey also becomes a theoretical reflection on photography and the nature of the object represented, inviting us to meditate on the very act of seeing. The title Infinite realism refers both to the horizon line, a central element of landscape photography, and to the infinite interpretative possibilities that each scenario holds.

^{Giovanni Chiaramonte, Corpus Christi, Texas, 1991 © Heirs of Giovanni Chiaramonte}