Curator’s reflection: Jim Goldberg in Pordenone

by Marco Minuz | Nov 25, 2010 in Exhibitions, Experiences | Leave A Comment

There are moments in every profession that reveal essential truths; moments in which regular schedules or discipline make way for uncertain and unpredictable instants. Like a hole in a curtain, spaces open up and we only thought we were in control, but these are dimensions that instantly lead us into intimite, irrational and unknown territory.

These rare moments are those that keep us doing our jobs: when the baker opens the oven and smells his creation, as when a farmer puts his nose to a still-green but already-perfumed tomato, or the line of land on the explorer’s horizon.

Luckily for me, I work in a field that overlaps with my greatest passion, giving me the opportunity to occasionally experience these intense moments. The latest was last November 5th.

I was inside the exhibition space of PARCO2, one of the spaces that makes up the new Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Pordenone. Within hours we’d be inaugurating a show by the American photographer Jim Goldberg, a joint production between Magnum Photo agency in Paris and the Comune di Pordenone.

The sun had set a few hours before and all the works were hanging in their definitive positions. The installers had gathered their drills and ladders and gone home. The cleaners were almost finished and every device was turned off.

The rooms were thus ready for the next day’s inauguration. Not many people were left in that tired but finally relaxed space.

Amongst the few present was Jim Goldberg himself who had arrived four days before in the city from San Francisco in order to personally oversee the display and its every detail. It had been an intense few days as we very professionally searched for the best possible path through the space. I followed Jim as he walked through the sections of the exhibit (“Rich and Poor”, “Raised by wolves” e “Open See”), looking for little details to fix or change. The rooms emptied out even more, silence enveloped us, every footstep echoed into the internal rooms. Not long after, Jim was done and decided it was time to return to his hotel. The exhibition set-up was officially done.

And so I remained alone with the works of art. I began to slowly stroll amongst the photographs, almost touching them, and that’s when I had the rare experience that one has when one realizes that something that is yours – your creature that represents your own fears, suffering, problems and joy during its creation – is finally, almost suddenly, ready to be given to others. That show that you dreamed about for months, planned every detail and protected from infinite difficulties; that show is finally reality. It’s about to enter a new life, that of being looked at and overhearing those who decide to look. And this is for me the true destiny of an exhibit: an externalization, an offering to others.

It was a strange moment, a mix of happiness and malincony, but unforgettable.

Description of Jim Goldberg exhibit

The sincere and rough photographs of the American artist Jim Goldberg are exhibited for the first time in Italy in a path that reveals the themes of his major artistic experiences. The show inaugurates the new spaces of PARCO – the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Pordenone and is on now until January 30 2011.

The exhibition brings together the three major projects that Goldberg has carried out during his 30-year career: “Rich and Poor”, “Raised by Wolves” and “Open See”. These address themes such as poverty, unease, and decay in a common desire to give voice to those who are constrained to silence. Hundreds of photos, texts, objects and videos help the protagonists of the photos express their testimonies and suggest a new approach to the use of photography.

Visitor Information

Jim Goldberg
Comune di Pordenone e MAGNUM Photos
PARCO2, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Pordenone “Armando Pizzinato”
via Bertossi, 9, Pordenone

Until January 30, 2011
curated by: Valerie Fougeirol and Marco Minuz

Hours: Monday to Friday, 15-19; Saturday and Sunday 10-20.

www.artemodernapordenone.it

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