Giacomo Costa: The chronicles of time/ Foreword by Norman Foster, Text by Luca Beatrice

Giacomo Costa’s research initially began with the study of photography before moving gradually in a direction that has lost all contact with traditional photography. Employing sophisticated digital techniques borrowed from the world of cinema the artist reinterprets the collective imagination of the metropolis, creating unreal cityscapes, spaces with vast perspectives that include spectacular ruins and architectures. Suspended between tradition and modernity, real and dreamlike, the “views” in The Chronicles of Time recall the sci-fi genre (are they perhaps the result of natural catastrophes? nuclear wars?) and at the same time, so rich in meticulous details, they seem to be the fruit of a contemporary reinterpretation of the most classic topos, that of the ideal city. The book covers twelve years of activity, setting out from the first “urban agglomerates” right on down to the artist’s most extreme and crazy visions. Giacomo Costa (1970) studied violin until the age of fourteen and subsequently attended classical high school, but he dropped out to devote himself to motocross and working as a mechanic. In the 90’s a nascent interest in photography led him to set up a studio, concentrating mainly on portraiture. From ’96 onwards his artistic research resulted in the fusion of traditional photography with the use of digital technologies. An excellent introduction to Costa's work, this volume includes photographs from the past 12 years.

English; Italian