Giuseppe Potente

Andrea Matissier is my post-pandemic pseudonym. In 2016, impressed by the harmony and synergy of the spectators of various ethnic groups at a Summer Concert in the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town, I began to attend the Concerts, also in other locations, to verify my idea / hope: that the common love for a particular music could be stronger than the separations born of different origins. In the following years, , I have seen mixes and separations. At the end, I believe that the mixture is only enhanced by the music, but it is not its magical effect. From this experience were born two photographic works centered on the spectators seen as a show: the first work, named “Music vs. Apartheid ", with color images , has been awarded with Honorable Mention in the Lucie Foundation Photography Awards 2017, and has been shortlisted in the 2018 Athens Photo Festival. This second book, “Eyes”, wants to show my irresistible attraction for the spectacle offered by the spectators in every event, when they participate, not simply watch. This participation, which brings down the "fourth wall" between artists and the public, becomes my participation too, and puts me on the tightrope, the line that is the image of life and spirit. In the book, many photos from different events are imbricated for a physical "fusion", not just an imaginary one : I wanted to emphasize the importance of real encounters, of participation, as opposed to "social networks", which are the result and cause of social distance. What do Summer Concerts in South Africa and Greece have in common with Rugby Tournements in Cape Town ? It is what burns me inside, the search for what we have in common.. A visual union that words cannot represent.