2. indiviDUALity by Riccardo Abate
Harmony and conflict, order and chaos, calm and excitement, sense and nonsense,
movement and stasis; a logic of opposition rules Riccardo Abate’s shots, antithetical
elements which even in their contraposition manage to reach a possible balance;
images produced with double exposure, each of them captured in both the cities that
have marked the life of this young photographer; an emotional journey between
introspection and lucid analysis, questions, tales and contradictions.
IndiviDUALity is a pun: duality or two different unities but of the same force and nature;
individuality i.e. a journey and an intimate and private experience; torn between Rome
and Sydney, hometown and adopted city, in this series of black and white photos
Riccardo Abate reconstructs, re-stitches and interweaves his life experience;
what emerges is, according to the author,“a very personal exhibition aimed at sharing
the emotional confusion”, whose protagonists, faraway and mutually inaccessible centres,
“are finally placed on the same level, or rather in the same frame”
Abate traces back territories, familiar environments, highlights their peculiarities,
similarities and discrepancies, one above the other, evident in their complex
cohabitation, and yet so familiar; evocative atmospheres, a thought, a face; habits and
behaviours of an inherited culture, those same ways of life and habits he questioned in
order to reinvent himself somewhere else, in a different existence. Protagonist of most
of the shots is water, be it sea or fountain water.The vast and crowded
Australian beaches set against Renaissance and Baroque buildings, rows of sampietrini
and an overpowering and uncorrupted nature; buses like cages, carelessness and neglect,
air, light and more sand.A definite, difficult farewell seems to linger in the juxtaposition
of two possible realities.
Riccardo Abate has been working for several years now both as an art photographer
and on commission, collaborating with important companies, museums and
publishing companies, a personal search and exploration, concentrating primarily on
portrait and reportage. Like in the indiviDUALity series, where the destabilizing potential
of the photos is brought to its extreme consequences through the superimposition of
two different moments, its elaborations, in black and white or colour, often marked by a
subtle irony, although in the immobility of the subject or in the studied pose, always
contain a kernel of instability, as if the captured moment was immediately preceding a
sudden discharge of energy. By playing with focus, strong contracts and a poetic very
close to the aesthetic of instantaneous photography, Riccardo Abate’s narrative
photography is the result of a balance between two cultures, the ‘classical’ Italian and the
‘underground’, bubbly and rebellious Australian culture, fully assimilated, internalized and
unified.
3. Armonia e conflitto. Ordine e caos, calma e concitazione, senso e non senso, movimento
e stasi; una logica degli opposti regola gli scatti di Riccardo Abate, elementi antitetici che
pur nella loro contrapposizione riescono a raggiungere un possibile equilibrio; immagini
che nascono da una doppia esposizione, realizzata ciascuna in entrambe le città che
hanno segnato la vita di questo giovane fotografo; un viaggio emozionale tra
introspezione e lucida analisi, domande, racconto e contraddizioni.
IndiviDUALity è un gioco di parole: dualità ovvero due-unità diverse di uguale forza e
natura; individualità ovvero percorso ed esperienza intima e privata: diviso tra Roma e
Sydney, paese natale e luogo adottivo, Riccardo Abate in questa serie di fotografie in
bianco e nero, ricostruisce, ricuce ed intreccia il proprio vissuto; ne risulta “una mostra
molto personale”, secondo la definizione dello stesso autore,“per condividere il
disordine emotivo”, i cui protagonisti, centri lontani ed inaccessibili tra loro,“sono
finalmente messi sullo stesso piano, anzi sullo stesso fotogramma”.
Abate ripercorre territori, ambienti a lui usuali, ne mette in evidenza peculiarità,
similitudini e discrepanze, l’uno sull’altro, evidenti nella loro complessa convivenza, eppure
così familiari; atmosfere suggestive, un pensiero, un volto; abitudini e comportamenti di
una cultura ereditata, quegli stessi costumi ed usanze da lui rimessi in discussione per
reinventarsi in un altro luogo, in un’altra esistenza. Protagonista della maggior parte degli
scatti è l’acqua, del mare, di una fontanella. Le estese ed affollate spiagge australiane in
contrapposizione alle costruzioni rinascimentali e barocche, file di sampietrini ed una
natura prepotente ed incorrotta; autobus come gabbie, trascuratezza e negligenza, aria,
luce ed ancora sabbia. Nella giustapposizione di due realtà possibili, sembra essere pre-
sente quasi un risolutivo, difficile saluto.
Riccardo Abate affianca oramai da anni al lavoro in studio e su commissione,
collaborando con importanti aziende, musei o editori, una personale ricerca e
ricognizione, concentrandosi principalmente sul ritratto ed il reportage. Come nella
serie di IndiviDUALity , dove le potenzialità di destabilizzazione delle immagini vengono
portate alle estreme conseguenze attraverso la sovrapposizione di due momenti diversi,
le sue elaborazioni, in bianco e nero o a colori, spesso venate da una sottile ironia, pur
nell’immobilità del soggetto o nella posa studiata, contengono sempre un germe di
instabilità, come se l’attimo fermato fosse quello immediatamente precedente ad un
improvviso rilascio di energia. Giocando con la messa a fuoco, i forti contrasti, ed una
poetica vicina all’estetica dell’istantanea, la fotografia narrativa di Riccardo Abate è il
risultato di un equilibrio tra due culture, quella “classica” italiana, e quella underground,
frizzante e ribelle australiana, compiutamente assimilate, interiorizzate ed unificate.
Carlotta Monteverde
7. RICCARDO ABATE
Along with his own artistic research in photography,Abate is known for his contribute
to Contemporary Art photography: his work has been recognised by
gallery owners, art collectors, museums and artists as valuable documentary
material. More than thirteen years of high quality performance within theVisual
Arts industry. Mentionable colaborations are with artists such as Jannis Kounellis,
Joseph Kosuth and Institutions such asThe Rome Museum of Contemporary Art,
The French Academy of Fine Arts, andThe British School at Rome in Italy.
Photographs from Portfolio are included in international art catalogues
books and brochures.
Currently Working between Europe and Australia as a freelance photographer.
Clients include: SydneyYouth Orchestra,The Song Company,Autore South Sea Pearls.
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS,AWARDS AND EXHIBITIONS
• 2012 Italian Cultural Institute indiviDUALity solo exhibition.
• 2008 Asia - Australia Arts Centre (Gallery 4A) annual members exhibition.
• 2007 Arte Laguna International photographic art prize:Treviso, Italy – group
exhibition of the competition finalists.
• 2007 Granted Australian permanent residency as a DistinguishedTalent based
on photographic/ artistic achievements.
• 2004Young Photographer of theYear Award in the contemporary arts industry,
Honored by Achille Bonito Olivia,.
• 2004 QUARANTANOVE: 2, Studio Lipoli & Lopez, Rome, Italy – Duet exhibition
featuring the works of one painter and a photographer in dialogue.
• 2004THINK OVER: GoldenThread Gallery, Belfast, Ireland – Group exhibition
featuring works by acclaimed international artists.
• 2004 RICCARDO ABATE: Rome, Italy – solo exhibition featuring portraits and
landscapes from Peru and Cuba.
• 2002 SPECIFICO Salento, Italy – Group exhibition featuring works by international
contemporary artists.