AQVA - Massimiliano Lattanzi - Photo Exhibition

Having already exhibited at UNESCO in Paris and at the World Water Forum in Mexico City, former UNESCO staff Massimiliano Lattanzi now visits IHE with a breathtaking set of 36 pictures on canvas called "AQVA".

Its three constituent parts — Hydros, Istos and Athmos — are symbolic representations of the emanations of a primigenous Nature, where the intensity and ambivalence of the divine predominate. Taken as a whole, they become a metaphor, symbol of the encounter between humankind and spirituality.

About the artist

Childhood walks among the ruins of Ancient Rome and structural remains that time has separated from the wholes they once were, left a deep impression on Massimiliano Lattanzi.

More inspiration came from the cosmos, which drove him to design telescopes and to establish a private astronomical observatory, which he maintains even to this day. These atemporal and decontextualized apprehensions of the creations of man and the universe inform Lattanzi's approach to photography.

He says he does not seek to shout a message but to convey in a whisper — "to let the observer immerse himself in a dimension of silence, where the artist disappears and each viewer can see his own reflection, and in this manner begin a process of self- exploration, and eventual self-recognition." His digital prints on canvas mix starkness and vibrant light with such intensity that their subjects are made ancillary, challenging the observer to empathically interact with the work itself.

This is why Lattanzi labels his art, first and foremost, spiritual. "Stop rushing!" Lattanzi and his images exhort. "Stand still, breathe, and listen to yourself."

Visitor Info

The exhibition can be visited at UNESCO-IHE from 7 September till the end of this year. On 8 September it can be visited freely on the occasion of Open Monument Day. Please contact info@unesco-ihe.org in case you are interested in visiting the exhibition after this date.