Massimo Vitali “Endless Summer”

Edwynn Houk Gallery

[Image: Massimo Vitali "Rosignano Milk Maddalena penitente" (2020)]

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Edwynn Houk Gallery presents Massimo Vitali: Endless Summer, the gallery’s first solo exhibition of newly-represented photographer Massimo Vitali. This exhibition includes stunning, large-scale photographs from his best-known series as well as recent works.

For over twenty years, Vitali has photographed spaces where large groups of people congregate socially, including night clubs, rock concerts, national landmarks, ski resorts, and—most famously—beaches. “All these groups of people, seemingly isolated, feel part of the same space,” he says of his works. “Around water, people feel they have something in common.” It is this commonality that Vitali searches for when photographing from a distant, slightly elevated vantage point. From this perspective, he views the masses made miniscule against the immense landscape. Expansive azure blue water, beautiful white sand beaches, and dramatic rock faces are hallmarks of his work. Printed at monumental scale, the photographs immerse viewers in the scenes to convey the sense that we, too, have something in common with these people.

After a career as a cinematographer, Vitali brings such sensibilities to his still photography. After setting up his camera he stands off to its side, not chasing a moment, but allowing the scene to unfold. In Vitali’s photographs, you might find a pair of lovers entwined on a towel, a family arguing with pails and shovels, a swimming child in the shallows, or a small dog underneath a beach umbrella. While other photographers might have one of these scenes per photograph, Vitali is able to show dozens of stories within a single frame—each containing multitudes of such tiny slices of life rendered in exquisite detail.

Massimo Vitali lives and works in Lucca, Italy. His work has been the subject of numerous solo shows internationally and is held in the collections of leading art museums and institutions including the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; and the Centre Pompidou, Foundation Cartier, and Fonds national d’art contemporain, Paris. Monographs of Vitali’s photographs include Beach & Disco (Steidl Verlag, 1999), Landscapes with Figures (Steidl Verlag, 2004), and Landscapes with Figures 2 (Steidl Verlag, 2019).