Artist: Alessandra Spranzi
Title: Il grosso cedro (esercizi)
Date: 2022
Technique: Fotografía
Dimensions: 18,7 x 24,5 cm
Todolí Citrus Fundació Collection
Donated by the artist
Alessandra Spranzi observes everyday objects and situations to discover something distinctive in them. Il grosso cedro is part of her project Esercizi, about which the artist tells us: “It is not a series with recurring elements. Each photograph reveals something that seems special, unique to me. Like a hapax legomenon, something said only once. I gather things that find themselves in a new position, or are shifted just slightly. I think of metaphysics, of images that construct other worlds. Of the exercise of things and the world. And of our continuous exercise in being, in staying there.”
In Il grosso cedro, Spranzi photographs a large citron, specifically Citrus medica ‘Maxima’, a variety that produces exceptionally large, knobbly yellow fruits. Hence the title of the work. This specimen comes from the Todolí Citrus Fundació collection and was picked by the artist during a visit to the El Bartolí botanical garden. Spranzi later worked with it in her studio.
The photograph draws attention to the fruit and its characteristics, inviting us to observe it from a different perspective. As in the rest of Esercizi, Spranzi starts with a recognisable subject to explore how a change in arrangement or viewpoint can alter our perception of the everyday—even if encountering a Citrus medica ‘Maxima’ is far from an everyday experience for most people.
Alessandra Spranzi (Milan, 1962)
Lives and works in Milan.
Alessandra Spranzi’s work reveals a penchant for humble materials, everyday situations, neglected and obsolete objects, manual labour and the gestures that accompany them.
Through these tools and subjects, through appropriations and even the slightest manipulations, the artist ceaselessly questions the mystery of existence and the fundamental forces that determine our destiny as well as that of the objects and environments that surround us.
Her artistic practice is linked to photography, the printed image, collage, drawing and video.
