Ivanov VCU Grad Photo Research: Artist Review 2: Massimo Vitali

Significance:
Good works of art can be viewed on different levels. Upon seeing Massimo Vitali's work I immediately connected it with my Vacation Industry project - overcrowded beaches, rows of beach shades, endless strips of hotels. It is interesting how critics and galleries emphasise on the aesthetics of his work and very little on political issues. This is in contrast to Ed Burtynsky's work perceived as environmental political statement as much as fine art. To me Vitali's work poses more political and philosophical questions than reviews suggest. His work juxtaposes the social versus the personal in a global and overly populated world and thus examining aspects of human nature. People are social animals, however, at what point are we becoming a herd? The environmental aspect is his attention to the places that have been transformed/created by humans on a collective and private level for the sake of achieving an ideal of leisure time. With his own way of photographing, Vitali is one of many contemporary photographers focusing on leisure as metaphor of the contemporary society.

Artist Biography:
Massimo Vitali was born in Italy in 1944. In 1964, he graduated from The London School of Printing with a degree in photography. Vitali worked as a photojournalist and a cinematographer. Beginning to work with large-format photography in the early 1990s, he began his beach series in 1995. Massimo Vitali's work can be found in the collections of the Guggenheim in New York, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, and the Elton John Collection.

Quotes:
1) "Vitali’s photography occupies a place between documentary realism and the surreal. His landscapes are casually inhabited by figures such as sunbathers and tourists who often forget about the photographer’s presence, as he waits for such a moment while perched 20 feet in the air on a platform. Ever interested in the ways in which people interact with their environment and each other, Vitali’s images satisfy a sociological desire as well as a voyeuristic longing to observe unawares. On this level his works are happily profitable, as each mural sized work allows for the intimate perusal of hundreds of candid portraits." M+B Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2) "In keeping with the vogue for large color photographic prints and to get most out of his 8x10 and 11x14 negatives, Vitali produces prints which allow the viewer to thoroughly scrutinize the scene before them... because of the volume of individuals in each scene he cannot be in control of them, where they place themselves and how the choose to behave; the photographer is at the mercy of the crowd. " http://www.1000wordsmag.com/ Jesse Alexander

Works: