Guido Argentini
LASYA by Guido Argentini ARGENTUM series
2015

About the Item

Series: ARGENTUM All available sizes and editions: 40" x 40" editions of 18 50" x 50" editions of 7 60" x 60" editions of 3 72" x 72" editions of 1 Archival Pigment Print on Fine Art Baryta paper Mounted and Framed Guido Argentini is an Italian photographer, known for his highly stylized and erotic images of the body, both male and female. In Argentini's striking photography, people are turned into living shiny sculptures, made of silver and gold, a daring and innovative study of the human body and its range of movement. Color and texture radically influence how we perceive shapes. While looking for an innovative approach at a 1995 Miami photo shoot, photographic master Guido Argentini was moved to coat a model in silver makeup. The result was as beautiful as it was intriguing--the subtle greyish tones highlighted angles and surfaces in a way that was other-worldly. Inspired by the results, Argentini created a whole series of silver-hued models. In so doing, he uncovered a fresh perspective for nude photography. Evoking the luminous polished planes of Brancusi and the verve of Degas' ballet sketches, these photographs endow the human body with both the solidity of sculpture and the vivid energy of dance. Using geometrical props Guido Argentini created a contrast between the human body and the archetypal forms of geometry: triangles, circles, and squares. “I always felt that photography was too close to reality. Painting and sculpting allow you to be more abstract when working with the human figure. My love for dance and for sculpture inspired this series of photographs. The watercolors of Rodin, sketches of dancers in very erotic and dynamic positions and the polished abstract bronzes of Brancusi were my strongest source of inspiration. In the pictures of ARGENTUM, the skin, covered with silver paint, becomes an even, shiny surface and the human figure becomes more abstract. To each image I gave a title, the name of a god or a goddess from different cults and religions, Greek, Egyptian, Celtic and many more. ARGENTUM is, once again, a tribute to women. The monotheistic religions took away the important role and all the power that women had in the antique cults. Goddesses, symbols of women, the creators of Life, have been banished completely from any current monotheistic religion. Giving to the women in my photographs these forgotten names of goddesses I’m giving a tribute to their beauty as well as to their spirituality. In this historical moment we are beginning to feel that is time to restore the values of THE SACRED FEMININE. The world has been controlled by male values for a long time. This has brought violence, war and the cult of materialism to humanity. The only way to save ourselves is to restore peace and love and create a new world where spirituality will become the real value. I decided to include a few pages of text. These are antique texts from different cultures. The only thing that they have in common is TRUTH. The truth is always the same, no matter when it was written or where it comes from. We use words to express our thoughts. The way the notes make the music the words should express what we think. Unfortunately truth cannot be expressed with words, truth must be experienced directly. Truth just is. The moment you talk about a truth, it becomes untrue, immediately. As the Tao says: “The Tao than can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name”. These texts have not pretension to teach anything, just as the koans of the Zen masters, they should just stimulate the reader. Hopefully they can awaken something that has been silent before. Awakening may not be possible for all or even for most people. It seems to come in its own time into a mind that has been prepared to receive it. Hopefully the beauty of these images and the strength of these texts could help people to wake up. These texts were fundamental for my personal spiritual growth They all mentioned the power of the individual. The power that we all forget to have. Every time you distant yourself from any authority and from “the system” you become an outsider. Every time your thoughts are different from what is considered “normality”, you become an outcast. As an individual you have access to an inner source of spiritual insight and you don’t need a church that tells you how and when to pray, you do not need a political structure to tell you how to behave in society. Searching for truth is something you have to do alone walking a very solitary path. We don’t need to learn; we just need to “remember”. “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you don’t bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you”. Photography, as everything else becomes a tool to discover the truth, my own truth. Showing beautiful bodies in this book, I suggest that we all try to go beyond the body and beyond matter. “One cannot obtain knowledge unless one gets rid of the feeling that one is the body.” Sri Ramakrishna (Hindu saint) Our vision of the world considers the invisible and internal dimension of life, the one that cannot be experienced through our senses, subjective and unreal. Science has follow spirituality proven that reality is not only the one that our senses perceive. We were born wired to every other element in the universe. Growing, we “learned” that we are separated from everything else, that we are alone and powerless. Quantum physic proved that the observer is influencing and changing everything that he observes. We are not just spectators in this universe but we are co-creators of reality. I believe that taking pictures as well as creating any type of art is always a way of overcoming our own mortality. Every real seeker wants to fight death. Every real artist must be a seeker before anything else; therefore, every artist must fight for immortality.”

Creator:
Guido Argentini (1966, Italian)
Creation Year:
2015
Dimensions:
Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
Medium:
Archival Pigment
Movement & Style:
Contemporary
Period:
2010-
Framing:
Frame Included
Framing Options Available
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New York City, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1014312958532
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