Exhibition 'Between Clouds and Wind. People of Civita' by Brian Stanton in New York
There is a village, suspended for centuries on a spur of tuff overlooking a mountain of clay. It is located in the heart of Italy, in the northern part of Lazio, where time seems to have stood still.
New York photographer Brian Stanton spent three years trying to understand it. He visited it, lived it, and questioned it. All this labyrinth of stories and images has become a work: 'Between Clouds and Wind. People of Civita'. From March 4th, the exhibition will be presented at the Consulate General of Italy in New York (690 Park Avenue), where it will remain until May 15th. The ribbon cutting is scheduled for March 4th at 6 pm.
Stanton has specialized in portraits for over 30 years, working closely with design studios, advertising agencies and large companies. He studied art history at the University of Florence and lived and worked in Italy for a decade. From 2016 to 2019 he carried out his studio-project on Civita di Bagnoregio. The result is a story that goes from the collection of chestnuts in the woods to the pressing of grapes, passing through the donkey races, the religious processions, the Valley of the Calanchi; up to the proud portraits of the elderly who still inhabit this surreal village, founded two thousand five hundred years ago by the Etruscans.
"The people of Civita collaborated with me with contagious enthusiasm," says Stanton. "This exhibition explores the collective dream of a community that lives in a place where the past is always present. People who fight to maintain their cultural memory made up of small gestures that still hold together the social fabric."
Stanton photographed the village for three years, immersing himself in it and immortalizing the daily life and ancient traditions of the people of Civita. An exciting sequence of images tells the story of the Good Friday procession, in which the inhabitants carry a 15th century wooden effigy of the crucified Christ from Civita to Bagnoregio. A practice that has remained unchanged for 400 years. Although Civita may seem like a place where time has stopped, this exhibition captures the vibrant human spark that still animates the community. His photographs also show the extraordinary landscape that surrounds the village, its particular geological conformation, elements that attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Printed in black and white tones, his images invite the visitor to participate in the drama of the deeply fissured volcanic rock and the arid ridges in the clay valleys that characterize the region. Over forty shots, some of which echo the dream brought to life by Federico Fellini in the Oscar-winning film 'La Strada', shot in Bagnorese. From the tightrope walker, to the child, to the bride of the film. A past that still lives in the present of the aged and timeless faces immortalized by Stanton.
"The idea of telling Civita in New York excites us. When we contributed to the realization of Stanton's exhibition in our Palazzo Alemanni, we promised ourselves to commit ourselves to bringing it to significant places in the world and we have succeeded in achieving our goal. A big thank you to Stanton for the work and commitment he has put into this project, which is also an exceptional promotion of our territory." These are the words of the mayor of Bagnoregio Luca Profili.
"To try to become great, you have to think big," says Francesco Bigiotti, the sole director of Casa Civita. "Bringing a storytelling exhibition about Civita to New York seemed like an impossible task, like so many things that have happened to us in the last ten years, and here we are. We are living an extraordinary experience that is good for the image of our territory and that will bring important results."
The project was supported by the Municipality of Bagnoregio and Casa Civita srl. The official website of the exhibition is https://www.civita-franuvoleevento.com/
