CINEMA
Cinematic Visions
In his eclectic journey through the many expressions of art, Ugo Nespolo could not refrain from exploring the language of artist’s cinema—a medium he made his own as early as the 1960s. His films, the result of an original synthesis of theoretical reflection and visual experimentation, have been featured in prestigious retrospectives at internationally renowned institutions such as Tate Modern in London and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, underscoring their significance in the history of contemporary art.
Editing and Puzzle:
Harmony in Nespolo’s Fragments
For Nespolo, artist’s cinema reflects the aesthetics of a puzzle: fragments come together to reveal a larger design, perfectly aligned with his artistic vision.
Artist’s cinema emerges as a privileged ground for radical experimentation, a mode of expression free from constraints, where the artist can shape their vision without mediation. It is, at once, a tabula rasa—a pristine canvas on which to imprint the essence of creative self—and a rigorous yet fascinating interplay of technologies: lights, timing, and sounds intertwine in a choreography of precision, giving life to a fluid and pulsating work.
In this context, editing becomes the cornerstone of an aesthetic deeply tied to the idea of a puzzle: seemingly disconnected fragments find their coherence, composing a larger and more meaningful design. This same logic, already evident in Nespolo’s pictorial collages, translates into cinema as a visual narrative where each element, despite its autonomy, contributes to a broader and more evocative unity, revealing the synthetic and conceptual force that permeates his entire body of work.
Artist’s cinema emerges as a performative art form that transcends linear narrative, favoring an aesthetic dimension that invites intimate and visceral interpretations, where the viewer’s experience intertwines with the polysemy of the work.
“I set off with the Bell and Howell 16mm with the Angenieux zoom to discover cinema, and I was lucky.”
Cinema has played a pivotal role in Nespolo’s work, allowing him to collaborate with prominent figures from diverse cultural backgrounds. Notable examples include Italiana (2006), where he directed actor Giancarlo Giannini, and Film/A/To (2001), featuring poet and playwright Edoardo Sanguineti—both emblematic of his ongoing dialogue between different artistic languages.
