Sergio Gobbo
Photography

Italiano

Antonio Smareglia Manifesto - 1998

Listen to the White Stones

Organized by: 

Aurora Fonda and Massimo Grandese
VENEZIA IMMAGINE
2nd Exhibition of Historical, Modern 
   and Contemporary Photography
21 - 24 September 2000
Venice - Thetis, Arsenale

Sergio Gobbo was born in Koper [Capodistria, Istria, now in Slovenia] on 18 May 1950. [In 1969 he graduaded from the middle school in Design of Lubiana.] In 1973 he finished art school in Venice before returning to Istria where he soon made a name for himself in the fields of graphic design and photography. He produced numerous projects on the subject of childhood and games, along with various children-related films for television. Nonetheless, Sergio Gobbo went on to achieve a degree of fame through the Istrian subjects so brilliantly immortalised with his camera. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to learn that for the last twenty years or so, his work has been concentrated in the Slovenian town of Izola and in Grožnjan, a small hill-top village in the Croatian hinterland. The latter, a typical example of the local urban settlements, is made entirely from Istrian stone. Through his work, the author has been able to live in two towns that, over the last decade, have come to be recognised as the heart of Istrian culture. 

Sergio Gobbo's mastery lies in his ability to capture small scenes and unexpected views and to portray the Istrian landscape from an unusual angle. This flair has given him the chance to become familiar with all the facets of a land whose most captivating feature is the juxtaposition of arrogantly contrasting natural elements brought together in what appears to be a visual collision. The red earth covering great areas of the countryside, a most peculiar geological phenomenon, creates a strong contrast with the bright green of the surrounding nature, in turn broken up by the stone in its natural guise. Through the Istrian panorama, we rediscover a primitive kind of nature not yet tamed by human intervention: in some ways, nature at its most authentic. This visual research, the result of a deep-rooted love of his land, has been the cornerstone of Sergio Gobbo's artistic career. The artist has raised his camera to the status of a precious instrument of knowledge, a knowledge that tends to strike at the root of things to reveal and bring to the fore their most closely guarded secrets, as only a picture can. 

The success achieved by Sergio Gobbo with his Istrian subjects was to be consolidated with various international awards received during the course of his short career, encouraging the artist to undertake similar projects. This time, his lens framed the evocative landscape of the Gulf of Kvarner, with all the natural and as yet uncontaminated beauty of Slovenia and Croatia.

The photographs exhibited were selected with a precise aim in mind: to bring to light some of the most significant distinguishing features of the millenarian history of Istrian stone. The starting point is the natural context, i.e. the landscape in which the stone is embedded, subsequently ravaged by the quarries. Once removed from these veritable open-air mines, the stone is machined to achieve the sophisticated beauty skilfully exploited by the Venetians through the ages, traces of which are to be found in all the towns and villages of the Istrian peninsula. On its native soil, the stone has managed to retain its natural form. Here, slabs of it are slotted together in a miraculous feat of engineering to build the region's typical houses. Walls are also erected using the same technique and circumscribe vast expanses of red earth, marking road edges. Sergio Gobbo decided to create a visual record of the stone's journey, endeavouring to Listening to the white stones and to what they had to say through his images. Hence we find that they represent not merely the annals of the Venetian Republic but that its origins and unexpected evolution mean that even today's artists continue to use the stone, reinterpreting it with a contemporary twist.

Let us not forget that "Ascoltare le pietre bianche" is the name of a more wide-reaching project funded by the European Community (Interreg II Italy/Slovenia). The purpose of the project is to highlight the particular features of Istrian stone through exhibitions, conferences and excursions, starting with its morphology and guiding us through its history all the way through to its basic function: a vehicle of communication! 

Aurora Fonda

Addendum:

Sergio Gobbo lives in Grisignana and spends his time with photo artistry and design for the promotion of tourism. He has participated in many collective exhibitionse in Croatia and abroad, and he has been awarded many national and international prizes.

His address:

Brace Korva II 
52429 - Grisignana

There are many examples of Sergio Gobbo's photography scattered throughout our site. The following pages contain solely his work:

• Le belle bumbarelle
• Le nozze dignanesi
• Lo splendore dei piroli dignanesi
• Silvano, Perun e Giorgio il Verde

Articles:

• Sergio Gobbo vince con «Fulvio Te vedo», La Voce del Popolo

Sources:

• http://www.veneziafiere.it/italiano/2000/veneziaImmagine/veimeventi04.htm 
• http://www.veneziafiere.it/inglese/2000/veneziaImmagine/veimeventi04.htm
• Photo - http://www.bassafriulana.org/artisti/istria/pittori/gobbo.htm (no longer online)

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