The practice of Francesco Jodice (Naples, 1967) moves in deep connection with the surrounding context and along the boundaries of visual arts and socio-anthropological investigations. He participates in and observes the transformations of the contemporary environment; the artist carefully scrutinizes and analyzes our time in order to concretize works that are portraits of global dynamics. Francesco Jodice’s art is a tool to concretize questions, leaving the public to evaluate (and possibly answer). Fondazione Zegna presents the exhibition “RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone” (“STORIES of woods, factories and people”) as a commission of the research project between art and nature and as part of the foundation’s 25th anniversary program.
Francesco Jodice, “RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone”, installation view, Fondazione Zegna, Valdilana, 2025, ph. credit Studio Francesco Jodice, courtesy Fondazione Zegna e l’artista
Francesco Jodice articulates a narrative through twenty-four images about the place and identity of the oasis; three bodies of photographic works intertwine in representing this unique and multiple reality. As suggested by the title of the exhibition, the artist focused on three characterizing and relevant aspects of Oasi Zegna: the forest, the factory and the human element that is integrated within them. The exhibition focuses on the investigation of the culture of a community, avoiding-if not for a few shots-the human presence with the aim of allowing a universal narrative evoked through a deserted natural and artificial spatiality.
Francesco Jodice, “RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone”, Oasi Zegna, Poggio Cossato (2024) (particolare), installation view, Fondazione Zegna, Valdilana, 2025, ph. credit Studio Francesco Jodice, courtesy Fondazione Zegna e l’artista
From the first image that opens the exhibition (which belongs to the natural sphere) the intent is clear: a verge, perhaps a ravine or edge of a path, surrounded by thick fog. The visual void is total and erases all spatial reference, all horizon. This dense white constitutes a visual volume that swallows up the context, making the edge the only foothold to reality. The landscape is erased, in this way the image becomes a metaphor for both an uncertain limit and a possibility beyond which to push the gaze. Set up on the wall in front of the entrance, this image, while creating a physical obstacle, gives rise to a broader reflection: from an obstruction the wall transforms into a threshold, developing an articulated dialectic on possibilities. Recalling the teachings of Luigi Ghirri, the artist wants to communicate how photography is a participatory art: it is the audience that connects and completes. In this tension between presence and absence, a profound exchange is activated with the viewer, who is called upon to complete what remains invisible.
Francesco Jodice, “RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone”, Oasi Zegna, Poggio Cossato (2024) (particolare), installation view, Fondazione Zegna, Valdilana, 2025, ph. credit Studio Francesco Jodice, courtesy Fondazione Zegna e l’artista
Throughout the exhibition, the geometry of the layout binds and unites the different themes, creating a coherent and layered visual system. Each element neatly blends with the other in a web of connections that returns a complex and perfect balance of immortal landscapes. The basic idea is to maintain the freedom and subjective expressiveness of the woods, the factory and the community while bringing them closer together so as to respect the identity of the place composed of the whole of these elements. The order and study behind the photographic narrative identify the artist’s practice and, along with the absence of human figures, reinforce that suspended, conceptual sense. The artist commented that during the making of the project (unlike his typical modus operandi) the initially chaotic creative process found order as the narrative evolved. Francesco Jodice consciously exposes and produces new images; the work is the result of careful surveys and research, in which the artist already shapes the final and overall solution.
Francesco Jodice, “RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone”, Oasi Zegna, Poggio Cossato (2024) (particolare), installation view, Fondazione Zegna, Valdilana, 2025, ph. credit Studio Francesco Jodice, courtesy Fondazione Zegna e l’artista
The only human presence within the representations is found in the class photo series. The works, connected to his 2006 project presented at the GAM in Turin, not only break away from conventional portraits of factory-related subjects, they are positioned as generational portraits; by immortalizing them, the artist turns his gaze toward the future and investigates those who will inherit memory and space. “RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone” narrates not only the identity and territory of the Zegna Foundation, but also produces reflections on the role of photography and the work of the artist himself. In visiting the exhibition, the awareness of the dialectic between socio-cultural context and artistic freedom grows; Francesco Jodice’s narrative – and practice in general – expands beyond the limits of the images themselves and breaks down traditional divisions between photography and art.
Info:
Francesco Jodice. RACCONTI di boschi, di fabbriche e di persone
curated by Ilaria Bonacossa
17/05/2025 – 16/11/2025
Fondazione Zegna
Casa Zegna, Via Marconi, 23, 13835, Trivero Valdilana (Biella)
www.fondazionezegna.org
Irene Follador (Venice, 1997) is an emerging critic and curator. She graduated first in Art History at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, and then she obtained a master’s degree at NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan. She has been collaborating with Juliet Art Magazine for a long time and, at the same time, she carries out her independent curatorial practice; her research and interest mainly tends towards works of moving images and new Media within the contemporary art system.
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