GIOVANNI OZZOLA
Born in 1982 in Florence, Giovanni Ozzola lives and works in the Canary Islands. He is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in photography, as well as video and sculptural installation. Ozzola’s practice demonstrates a deep sensitivity towards the phenomenon of light and its various physical characteristics. His main thematic interests lie in conceptualising and representing infinitude and exploration, both geographical and introspective. A selection of his most recent solo shows includes “Octillion” (Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, 2019); “Sin Tiempo” (Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, Boissy le Chatel, 2019); “If I Had to Explain, You Wouldn’t Understand” (Fosun Foundation Shanghai, 2019); “Algo Tuyo y Mío” (Centro Foundacion UNICAJA, Malaga 2018 and Almeria 2019); “Rutas de Sangre” (Claustros del convento de San Francisco de Asis, Basilica Menor, Havana, 2018); “Relitti e camere con stelle”, curated by Davide Ferri (Untitled Association- Lynchen, Berlin, 2017); “Fallen Blossoms – Whispering” (Galleria Continua, 798, Beijing, 2017); “Adrift” (District 6 Museum, Cape Town, 2016). Among the most recent group shows, “Kronos e Kairos” (Foro Romano e Palatino, Parco Archeologico del Colosseo, Rome, 2019); “Recto Verso” (Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2018); “Insights” (Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, 2018); “Sculpture Projects Pingyao” (Pingyao Diesel Engine Site, Shanghai, 2018); “Mostra Premio Cairo” (Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2017); “LANDSEASKY: Revisiting Spatiality in Video Art”, curated by Kim Machan (tour exhibition: MAAP, Seoul, 2014).
Ozzola produces picturesque images that oscillate between the immediacy of capturing the ephemeral and the carefully constructed artifice traditionally associated with painting. Fog or sunlight streaming through colourful curtains is a romantic leitmotif within his practice. In his three-dimensional works, Ozzola looks at some of these same properties by using a variety of materials: neon lights to illuminate found objects from within, marble installations as backdrops for video projects, or slate slabs as surfaces for etching.