Canadian photographer Robert Polidori’s last series is composed of large-scale color
photographs of the frescoes of Fra Angelico (1395-1455) contained in the Dominican priory
of San Marco in Florence. In the canon of art history, these works, executed in the birthplace
of the Renaissance, give us a full sense of the period’s renewed commitment to the life of the
spirit. Polidori visited the Convento di San Marco several times over the course of 2010 to
capture the solemnity and sheer force of the frescoes and their reflection, through the
depiction of the life of Christ, of the universal condition of mankind.
The frescoes, painted by Fra Angelico between 1439 and 1444 for purposes of devotion and
contemplation, extend beyond literal storytelling. They shift into the metaphysical realm,
bringing the viewer into contact with the incidents of the life of Christ in the context of a
newborn psychological and subjective interpretation. In this altered manner of worship lies
the root of the changes in faith and understanding that were to follow during the span of the
reawakening that we know as the Renaissance.
As in much of Polidori’s previous work, including photographs taken in Sri Lanka, Lebanon,
Iran and India, and in particular his work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Polidori
is exploring a closely observed subject: the situation of humanity in the face of the
overwhelming power of nature and time and a search for the universal.
Robert Polidori, Fra Angelico / Opus Operantis
Du 8 au 14 avril 2018
Galerie Paul Kasmin
293 10th Ave
New York, NY 10001
Etats-Unis
www.paulkasmingallery.com
