ELEONORA OLIVETTI

curated by Giuliana Scimé

The photo collage was one of the very first experimental techniques in the history of photography. The first authors invented it to show their outstanding abilities and to finally free photography from the humiliating role of mere reproduction of reality in which it was relegated.
In other words, art was the domain of painters, photography was just a mechanical tool to reproduce reality. The history of photo-collage is indeed fascinating and full of surprises. In this area of creative experimentation Eleonora Olivetti finds the right space for her work, combining her passion for photography, culture and studies on human genetics.
Obviously, with such a background of studies and interests, photography couldn’t remain, for her, a simple tool for illustration and reproduction.
The work of Olivetti is remarkable for technique, visual aesthetics and scenography invention. Colour photos of people, places and countries, cut out and put back together following personal and bizarre schemes, are applied onto an ancient engraving working as a backdrop. The engraving, found after patient search in little shops and boot sales, adheres to the location depicted or is offered to an imaginary rendition
Prospective, as well as the alleged truth of photography, in the work of Olivetti, are subverted to create an image which doesn’t exist in reality but is totally correspondent to an emotional response, completely intimate and personal.
This very serious game of reflection, involves the spectator in an endless series of mental procedures through the research of fragments, the tentative reconstruction, the environmental relationships and the introspective analysis of their own visionary universe.