Gianni Motti was born in 1958 in Italy. He lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland. By a series of punctual and absurd interventions, filtering reality and interfering with the daily motions of the media, the acts of Gianni Motti cover the entire spectrum of contemporary society. His work consists of producing intrusive forms in a media-centric reality where the artist has not been invited to intervene. He acts like a reality hacker.
June 5, 2004 was the Roland Garros semi-finals, the same day that President George W. Bush was on an official visit to France to celebrate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Roland Garros, made in 2004, is a photographic dyptic. We can see the artist in the crowd, a bag over his head, in a position that echoes those of the Abou Ghraib prisoners in Iraq. This scandal was a an affair during which armed American military and C.I.A. agents were accused of human rights violations against these prisoners. With this intrusion, Gianni Motti reminds us of the co-presence of such events.
Thanks to Pascal Beausse, head of the photographic collections, and to the teams of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques who have allowed this project to be carried out. Coordination: Annabelle Oliveira, Communications and Information at CNAP. Assisted by Zelie Davin, Responsible for photography acquisitions, video, audiovisual and new media Cnap. Translation: L’Œil de la Photographie.
Each week you can find the presentation of a piece from the photographic collection of CNAP http://www.cnap.fr and L’Oeil de la Photographie. Available in French and in English
