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Photographs: ITALIAN ICONS

Monday 18 May 2026, 04:00 PM • Milan

1096

Paolo Ventura

(1968)

Behind the walls #7, 2013

Artist's Resale Right

Estimate

€ 2.500 - 3.500

Sold

€ 3.556

The price includes buyer's premium

Information

Two inkjet prints
cm 42,1 x 59,4 (cm 39,4 x 48,1 picture) each | 16.5 x 23.3 in. (15.5 x 19.8 in. picture) each
Each one titled, monog P.V. and dated in blue pencil with photographer's credit stamp on the verso
Paolo Ventura (Milan 1968) son of a well-known illustrator of children's books after his studies at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts worked for a long time and successfully as a fashion photographer, but when he moved to Brooklyn, he discovered a new and original vocation that enhanced his manual skills. He builds, and then takes photographs of them, dioramas where he evokes atmospheres by creating costumes, scenes, objects, and details with meticulous philological precision. He moves from historical situations (the 1940s) to fantasy subjects where circus characters and puppets appear or imaginative settings where he and his family members appear. He then combines painting and collage with a masterful use of digital.

Situated in that liminal space between photography and painting, these works create ethereal atmospheres that always hint at something significant yet mysterious. Whilst Death of an Anarchist plays with the aesthetics of illustration (there is a nod to the magical realism of ex-votos), the story behind Behind the Walls is more complex, as it stems from a purely fictional narrative: that of a city surrounded by walls that prevent both entry and exit, a sort of prison with strong and fascinating metaphysical undertones.

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