An exhibition by Paolo Pellegrin in collaboration with Galleria Umberto Benappi
Carlina Restaurant & Bar – Blue Room

BIRDS | Video projection – Internal Courtyard

The Paolo Pellegrin – Volatilia project brings together a selection of works by the Italian photographer dedicated to the theme of flight and its forms in nature. Taken in Japan and Norway, the photographs and video presented form a veritable visual flock that envelops the visitor, immersing them in an intense and contemplative experience.
Pellegrin, in Kyoto to participate in an artist residency organised in 2019 during the Kyotographie festival, was struck by the majesty of the aerial ballet of a colony of black kites flying over Shimogamo Shrine. Their dazzling speed is captured through tight shots: the birds seem to emerge from the lens or fly out of it at full speed, as if in an endless dance. The birds of prey invite us to enter a mysterious and ghostly world, where the animal component reigns undisturbed.
This powerful and wild presence emerges with even greater intensity in the shots taken in Norway, also in 2019, for a feature published in The Voyage Issue of The New York Times Magazine. The protagonist is the Norwegian sea eagle, queen of all birds of prey for its grandeur and beauty.
‘The result is a celebration of these animals, captured in collective motion or individually, with the penetrating gaze of a bird that occasionally dives into ours with vibrant intensity’ (G. Lesaffre, 2021).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)