This project examines the ways in which art history and historical knowledge are produced, transmitted, and mediated through contemporary technologies. I am particularly interested in how our encounters with historical figures and artworks are increasingly filtered through digital infrastructures...
Projects such as Reveries and Ordinary Views, which unfold over many years of development, inevitably evolve to remain engaging for the viewer and for me. Conceptually, a natural concluding chapter for these bodies of work is to photograph the miniatures in Italy. However, due to time constraints and the logistical challenges of working at a distance from what was once home, this phase of the project remains unfinished. Here are the starting kernels that I hope to revisit when the opportunity arises...
While walking through numerous U.S. state capitols and Washington, D.C., one pattern became increasingly apparent: Greco-Roman architectural motifs have been consistently deployed from the seventeenth century through contemporary architecture. Whether manifested in churches, courthouses, statehouses, or Smithsonian institutions, classical architecture functions as a visual language through which authority, legitimacy, and prestige are asserted...
Reveries & Other Fantasies: Conjured Architectural Escapes presents idealized architectural miniatures set against Southern vernacular architecture. The images engage themes of place, belonging, refuge, escape, and fantasy. These constructed spaces operate as reveries—visions tinged with nostalgia and a wistful longing for what never was—illusions that aspire toward reality while remaining fundamentally imagined...
The series A Place Between is rooted more firmly in the documentary tradition. It began as a response to my relocation to Orangeburg, South Carolina, and later expanded to include rural areas of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. While exploring these environments, I did not approach my subjects with detachment; instead, my reflections on decay and decline shaped the work...
Roma… Rom… Rome. The Eternal City is known by many names, yet none of them conjure the same image. Although I was born and raised in Rome, my memories and understanding of the city—like those of anyone else—are shaped and altered by narratives that are not my own. Our knowledge of Rome is continually enhanced, modified, corrupted, and distorted by the countless representations produced by scholars, artists, tourists, and amateurs alike...
I grew up in the center of Rome, Italy. Both of my parents were photographers, and you could say I was marked for photography early on - my first scar came from falling onto camera equipment. I started studying photography in high school, and around the same time, I developed a deep interest in art history. Being surrounded by Rome’s history and art shaped the way I learned to see and understand the world. With the city as my everyday backdrop...
Photo by Ginia Worrell
I often describe artworks as the pebble in one’s shoe—something small and persistent that announces itself with every step, demanding attention until it is identified and addressed. To extend the metaphor, it becomes an itch that must be scratched. My work begins with a kernel of emotion or idea I want to communicate, or as a response to the environment in which I find myself.
As unreliable and mythologized as memory can be, I have a vivid recollection from my first day of orientation during my foundation year in London. One faculty member said to us, “I am here to render myself superfluous,” paused, and then continued, “I am here to teach you how to learn without me.”
Coming soon!
Giordano Angeletti - Artist, Educator, and Curator