Curated byLuca Fiore, the exhibition The Subject Matters atViasaterna Galleryinvestigates the meaning of photographic subjects and their social and cultural importance.

From January 20 to April 4, it gathers 45 photographs from 5 different artists:Gerry Johansson(Sweden, 1945),Guido Guidi(Italy, 1941),Takashi Homma(Japan, 1962),Terri Weifenbach(USA, 1957) andVanessa Winship(UK, 1960).

Guido Guidi, Chiesuola Russi, 2016, Stampa a contatto C-print, cm 46,5 x 41,5 Guido Guidi, courtesy Viasaterna

Gerry Johansson’s black and white photographs were shot from 1992 to 2021 in small towns in the north and center of Spain, collected in the bookSpanish Summer(MACK, 2022).Guido Guidi’s images will be from an unpublished sequence from 2001 and 2016, and the exhibition Col tempo is now on show at MAXXI in Rome.

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Takashi Homma, New Waves, 2003, Stampa FineArt, cm 100 x 125 © Takashi Homma, courtesy Viasaterna

“New Wave” byTakashi Homma(2000-in progress) is a collection of images taken in Hawaii, from the same place.

InTerri Weifenbach’s photographs, the vegetation blends into a pictorialbokeh,whileVanessa Winshipfocuses on the desolated Midwest landscapes with a selection of black and white images collected in the bookSnow(Deadbeat Club, 2022).

Gerry Johansson, Villaflores, Spain, 2020, Stampa ai sali d’argento, cm 36 x 33 Gerry Johansson, courtesy Viasaterna

Vanessa Winship, Frozen Marshland with Tendril, Holmes County, Ohio, U.S.A, 23.02.2020, 2020, stampa a pigmenti, cm 60 x 50 Vanessa Winship, courtesy Viasaterna e Huxley-Parlour

Taking inspiration from the hierarchy of painting genres with landscape paintings considered less prestigious than portraits and historical representations, the exhibition aims to give centrality to the subject of everyday life, to elements considered banal which nevertheless hold a powerful poetic.

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Guido Guidi, Chiesuola Russi, 2016, Stampa a contatto C-print, cm 46,5 x 41,5 © Guido Guidi, courtesy Viasaterna

The title The Subject Matters recalls the technical language used in photography to describe what is in front of the camera.

But it can also seen as a statement, a way to express the importance of the subjects that the photographers chose to capture, dignifying them.

Terri Weifenbach, 12.07.2019, 2019, Archival pigment print, cm 78 x 52 Terri Weifenbach, courtesy Viasaterna

The Subject Matters

January 20 - April 4 2025

VIASATERNA

Via Giacomo Leopardi 32, Milano

Monday - Friday 12 PM - 7 PM.

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Gerry Johansson, Villaflores, Spain, 2020, Stampa ai sali d’argento, cm 36 x 33 © Gerry Johansson, courtesy Viasaterna

Saturday on appointment.

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Vanessa Winship, Frozen Marshland with Tendril, Holmes County, Ohio, U.S.A, 23.02.2020, 2020, stampa a pigmenti, cm 60 x 50 © Vanessa Winship, courtesy Viasaterna e Huxley-Parlour

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Terri Weifenbach, 12.07.2019, 2019, Archival pigment print, cm 78 x 52 © Terri Weifenbach, courtesy Viasaterna