Elliot Erwitt's “Personae” is his first major retrospective featuring both his black-and-white shots, which have already become iconic and successfully exhibited all over the world, and an almost unedited collection of his color work. The exhibition highlights the elegant composition, the great humanity, the irony and sometimes the comedy which have made Erwitt a unique and most appreciated artist. It is not by chance that he is considered the photographer of the human comedy. The exhibition clearly shows how his extraordinary sensitivity allows him to move equally from color to black-and-white shots, in a total continuity of style and artistic research. Member of the prestigious photographic agency Magnum Photos since 1953, Erwitt has chronicled in a journalistic way the last sixty years of history and contemporary civilization, able to catch not only the most dramatic but also the most funny aspects of all the lives that have come across his camera. It is also worth mentioning his long career as television writer and director, that will be celebrated with a film exhibition sponsored by the association Civitas and Settimana del Buon Vivere.

Marilyn Monroe, Che Guevara, Sophia Loren, John Kennedy and Arnold Schwarzenegger are just some of the several celebrities that were caught by his lens and put on display in the exhibition. Erwitt investigates them with a piercing look, a look that is at the same time full of empathy and which clearly shows the irony and complexity of everyday life. Erwitt, however, shows the same attitude Erwitt towards any other person. That is exactly what the title of the exhibition, Personae (it's not by chance that the same title is shared with the festival La Settimana del Buon Vivere, now in its eighth year), hints at: his dedication towards people's real lives and, at the same time, his interest towards the role of masks and theater, an interest which characterizes his entire production, especially the pictures he took under the pseudonym André S. Solidor. His acronym A.S.S. (not at all accidental) is the mask Erwitt bluntly dedicates to the world of contemporary art and to a certain kind of photography. Thus he creates his irreverent alter ego who loves everything Elliot Erwitt on the contrary despises: digital photography and photo retouching, gratuitous nudity and idle eccentricity. A desecrating mask that makes fun of certain artists by means of exhilarating parodies that, at the same time, make people smile and encourage them to seriously reflect on the art market.

The exhibition includes about 170 shots personally selected by Elliott Erwitt from his immense archives. The pictures, in size 70 x 100 cm and 100 x 140 cm, have been carefully printed and displayed in fine art frames and anti-reflective glass.

In addition to the official opening of the exhibition, a public meeting will take place on September 22nd, during which Elliott Erwitt will be interviewed by Roberto Cotroneo in the Church of San Giacomo, just next to the location of the exhibition.

Opening times:
Tuesday to Friday h. 9.30 am – 6.30 pm
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays h. 10.00 am – 7.00 pm
December 24th and 31st h. 9.30 am – 1.30 pm
Closed on Mondays, December 25th and January 1st.
The ticket shop closes one hour before closing times.

Ticket prices:
Full ticket € 11,00