industria niccolò biddau

INDUSTRIA

ON VIEW NOVEMBER 29, 2013 - JANUARY 6, 2014

CS_TRIENNALE INGLESE_CS_SAN FRANCISCO 24/11/13 23:41 Pagina 1

INDEX

PHOTOGRAPHY AND INDUSTRY AT THE TRIENNALE DI MILANO p. 1

THE AESTHETICS OF TECHNOLOGY

BY NICCOLÒ BIDDAU p. 3

THE MITH OF THE MACHINE

BY PHILIPPE DAVERIO p. 5

THE FORMAL REQUIREMENT

BY CHRISTIAN CAUJOLLE p. 5

REALITY AND UNCONSCIOUS IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF NICCOLÒ BIDDAU

BY GIAN PAOLO CAPRETTINI p. 7

SCENARIOS OF MADE IN ITALY

BY SUSANNA LEGRENZI p. 10

THE COMPANIES p. 12

PRESS IMAGES p. 13

NICCOLÒ BIDDAU p. 14

PRACTICAL INFORMATION p. 16

PARTNERS p. 17


PHOTOGRAPHY AND INDUSTRY AT THETRIENNALE DI MILANO

From 29 November 2013 to 6 January 2014 the

Triennale di Milano hosts the project INDUSTRIA by

Niccolò Biddau, on view for the first time.

The exhibition presents to the public 30

printed photographs and more than 200

photos projected by video by the

photographer Niccolò Biddau. They have

been taken by the author during

numerous campaigns at the most

prestigious Italian companies; Alessi,

Borsalino, Pirelli, FIAT, Campagnolo,

Italcementi, Campari, Dalmine, Marzotto,

Missoni, Corneliani, Menabrea, Cassina,

Zanotta, Mediaset, Mondadori, Telecom

Italian … and many more.

The Triennale di Milano presents the photographic exhibition INDUSTRIA by Niccolò Biddau,

with the support of TenarisDalmine, Lanfranchi and Guala Closures and in collaboration with

Fondazione Dalmine, under the patronage of Museimpresa. Technical Sponsors: Berlucchi,

Discipline and Firenet Ltd. Media Partner: Zoom.

30 photographs in black and white, printed in a large size, over 200 photos projected by

video and important critical contributions will translate the “voyage” through Italian industry by

the photographer into a journey in highly evocative images. A discovery of Italian industry which

surprised the protagonists themselves and which has earned Niccolò Biddau many awards,

including the first prize of the Black and White Spider Awards of Los Angeles (USA).

An opportunity to get closer to the industrial world in a completely new and original way.

This is the main aim of the photography campains dedicated to Italian industry, recounted by

Niccolò Biddau.

With alert eyes and attention to detail, Biddau gives us a “behind the scenes” look at the

complex industrial machine that watches over the production of objects and manufactured

articles, the pride and joy of “Made in Italy”.

TENARISDALMINE. Steelworks: hot bars on continuous casting machine.

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With a very personal interpretative language developed over years spent in industrial facilities,

the author celebrates all forms of industrial production. Italian expertise, so admired around

the world, is narrated every step of the way with unusual shots that strongly evoke the intense

productive life behind each finished product.

In some cases, we are unexpectedly captivated and mesmerised by the intense scrutiny placed

on the material of a component, on the light that

passes through it or its complex shape.

Structured architectures and transversal cuts, a

series of objects or objects that appear to be

suspended in the shot like in one the most modern

figurative compositions: the language varies and

everything is captured in invigorating white and

black, which sometimes emphasises the empty

spaces and sometimes the full spaces, sometimes

the fluids and other times the solids.

The promotion of a company through this kind of communication process is certainly a new and

sophisticated way to spread knowledge of the great Italian manufacturing system.

The photographs are exhibited in a thematic route organised in five sections; the object seen

from close at hand and mass production; People: extreme technology and manual skills;

Industrial architectures; facilities and production lines; the 20th vs. the 21st century; the

factory against the robots; The shapes that return; the recognisable and the unrecognisable.

To take his photographs, he works in analogue, using a medium-sized camera and a low-

sensitivity film. He believes that the plasticity of shapes, the planes and depths still remain

greatly linked to the negative. He only works with the ambient light and shoots only when he

finds the optimum point of balance. Absolute black and shades of grey allow him to set a

challenge each time, which at times can be extreme.

The photographs on display are fine art prints on fibre base paper, in a passepartout frame for

conservation purposes. The size of the frame is: 100 x 80 cm.

A high definition colour film by Giovannij Lucci relates, through the accounts of entrepreneurs,

critics and the photographer himself, the genesis of the project and how it came into being. In

addition, the “behind the scenes” will document the story of some of the photos on display,

revealing further behind-the-scenes-activity and impressions. This way the visitor will be able to

understand emotionally the narrative structure of the route.

The exhibition is accompanied by critical texts by the photo critic Christian Caujolle, the journalist

and independent curator Susanna Legrenzi and the semiologist Paolo Caprettini.

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GUALA CLOSURES. Safety closures for alcoholic beverages.


THE AESTHETICS OF TECHNOLOGYBY NICCOLÒ BIDDAU

As a photographer, I have spent several years visiting numerous Italian factories in search of

shots that capture the true character of industry: strong, hardworking, full of ideas and

enhanced by design. The beauty of the industrial plants and manufactured products during the

production phases never ceases to amaze and fascinate me.

I have always been interested in giving people a “behind the scenes” look at industrial production

through an interpretative photographic language. My photos aim at placing everyday objects

in the centre of the photograph without, however, excluding the human presence, but giving

symbolic meaning to individuals who are generally only considered for their functionality of use.

My intention was never to bring a documentary style to the images, but to search for carriers

of emotions and information. I wanted to give an overall view of the Italian industrial world that

also took into consideration its various relationships. I concentrated on achieving a balance

between my inner vision and that of the company. This called for total dedication and a good

deal of flexibility, which were necessary for relating to the photos in the most innovative way

possible. Of course, I translated my idea, my vision, trying to interpret what Italian industry is

today and what it will be in the medium term.

PIRELLI. After the curing process, the tyres are sent to the Finishing Area for a final quality check.

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The work was organised into studies and analyses developed through a series of photographic

campaigns that focused on companies in all industries. I first tried to get an overall picture of

the environments and their complexity, then I found some structured microsystems for

establishing the cardinal points. Next I formed

conceptual “islands” made up of extremely

representative guide images that acted as a

synthesis for narrating the story.

A special and intrinsic aspect of the photo is

inserted in this narration since it develops on the

dualism of positive and negative, when a

photographer takes a photo he sees a part of

reality and erases the rest. Hence the

importance of finding the right photo and its

placement in a precise point of the path. This helps us to read and better understand a

particular moment in time and space of the narrative as a whole.

The photographic campaign was exposed to many different stimuli. However, casualness also

played an important role, so finding an “industrial composition” helped me to create a new

association or to embark on a new path. Another important element is

the knowledge of different fields and their representation. This balance is often built on very

small facts, which I had to deal with constantly.

This process allowed me to gradually compose new concepts which began to interact with each

other, thus forming a completely homogeneous picture.

I have always been attracted by the fascination emanating from spaces and volumes when

they are crossed, cut, shaped by effects of light, shadows and shadings. A world that I

began to perceive in black and white and that became my interpretive language.

I love depicting a company’s place as an extremely attractive container: a place of art, an

expression of modernity, an outpost where creativity, technology and new humanism merge

into one.

CORNELIANI. Handmade finishing detail.

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THE MYTH OF THE MACHINEBY PHILIPPE DAVERIO

The myth of the machine is a stable myth of modernity i.e. a myth that appears as

soon as modernity appears in its complete expression in the world we live. It gained

public interest at the beginning of the twenties when some artists interpreted this

myth and became Cubists or post-Cubists because they wanted to find inspirations in

the machine that the world had not seen before.

However, the myth of the machine evolved. Up until that time it was also associated

with noise, smells and fumes, while the current meaning makes the myth of the

machine become abstract. It is now a myth where clean air and perfect limpidity of

the systems have created a new language.

How can you define Biddau’s work? It is like a game for the eyes, played inside the

myth of the machine as it appears today, where everything is orderly and tidy, where

everything is clean, where everything leads to discovering a world that is totally

unexpected: the very architecture of the production system.

CAMPARI. Camparisoda bottles designed by Fortunato Depero in 1932.

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A close-up look at some bottles, a punching machine, and a series of industrial

elements placed in a row, reveals a completely architectural conception of the world

of manufacturing. And he guides the eyes in an absolutely schizophrenic way: from

assemblies sometimes reordered inside the

scheme of the image to the details, where

every single detail represents its ability to be

the material, to be the shape and to “shape

equilibriums".

In this well-ordered industrial world,

unordered objects also take on a different

value: an accumulated zip can appear to be a

snake, but is described with perfect precision

and therefore its description also matches

that of a series of hanging sausages, because all the objects are there, not at the time

of consumption, but at the time of their birth. It is a sort of perfectly ordered

primordial womb, perfectly clean and perfectly enshrined within its orthogonal lines,

which is the clean industrial world that we see today.

And finally, there is a magical quality. Industry is clean, the machine is extremely

precise, the use of black and white makes everything look more real than colour

which always falsifies the dimensions in an unexpected fantasy. But there is a secret:

the eye of who is behind the machine and the eye of the photo.

Another intriguing point: photography, by its nature, always gives rise to a

misunderstanding because it transforms a long existence into an instant. The only

photography that is able to represent reality is still life. And here the industrial

pieces are looked at exactly as if they were still lives; they are static and, by

capturing their static nature, photography makes them eternal.

LANFRANCHI. Elements attached in continuous chain.

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THE FORMAL REQUIREMENTBY CHRISTIAN CAUJOLLE

The failure to appreciate so-called “applied photography” and the refusal to recognise the

originality of numerous artists who have worked in fields such as advertising portraits or still-

life photos, effectively means not appreciating a large part of photography. It’s as if art was on

one side and business on the other, as if from the Renaissance period onwards these two

sectors led separate lives, entertaining relationships that were sometimes complex and

contradictory but always characterised by an interdependence that generated masterpieces.

The industrial world, a very specific sector, has often been overlooked. Yet today, following the

operation to finally rescue various photographic collections – following the loss of numerous

photographic archives and collections due to neglect – we come to realise that many

companies, large or small, have preserved rare and sometimes important photographic

campaigns. Such as those that illustrate and document foundries, iron and steel companies,

mechanical companies, the chemical industry, textile industry and food industry through the

scenarios that place them in a particular context.

In literature on the history of photography this “new vision” started to gain importance in the

1920s, when German, Italian, Russian and American creative minds used risky shots, breath-

ALESSI. Assembly of kettle with bird whistle, design by Michael Graves.


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taking low-angle and high-angle shots and an incredible sense of detail to portray steel, cement

and glass, as well as the most modern construction techniques.

It is no coincidence that one of the most beautiful books by Germaine Krull is entitled “Métal”,

or that an artist like Renger-Patzsch with his work

on the structure of plants changed our view of the

world. Consideration should also be given to the

undervalued work by Czech photographer Josef

Sudek who, in addition to his famous romantic still-

life photos of glass, “Magic Garden” or “Labyrinths

of My Studio”, also created beautiful advertising

compositions of plates, cups and other porcelain

objects arranged, framed, highlighted and

caressed by light.

I mention these references because Niccolò Biddau is part of this tradition.

A tradition characterised by an irreproachable formal requirement, by the framing and

relationship with forms, by the image that affirms its originality, by light and shapes in their

perfection.

This requirement comes from the love for the materials and volumes of the objects and at the

same time from the search for the structure (fundamental and not often visible) and from those

who make these objects.

The subtlety and precision of the approach naturally converses with excellence, with a special

attention to beauty, but also with lesser-known industrial areas.

The choice of black and white, the need for an image that has been designed and constructed

without gratuitous romanticism or decorative frills, highlights what is at the very heart of reality

and what can never be reached. There is an obstinate desire to put things into order in an

attempt to understand them better and give them a meaning by sublimating their

appearance. The aim of this project is simply to demand the best.

IVECO. Detail of the doors during welding.


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REALITY AND UNCONSCIOUS IN THEPHOTOGRAPHY OF NICCOLÒ BIDDAU

When looking at the photographs by Niccolò Biddau, we immediately feel the need to

identify the categories.

Biddau’s photography is definitely industrial photography, but in this respect we need to ask

ourselves what industry represents to photography and what, instead, photography represents

to industry.

To fully understand this, we must not simply approach this data in an abstract way, but it is

essential that we intercept and categorise the images captured by the photographer, and in

turn, what he conveys to us through his images.

The main theme of each photograph is distance. From a vantage point contextualised inside

the industrial world, the first and objective attention is focused on the workplace, where the

objects that populate industry are created and produced. However, it is not long before these

objects arouse the interest of those who observe them: what are they, are they simple

manufactured parts of an object still under construction or do they already hold a meaning?

BORBONESE. New glamorous trends are created using traditional handcrafted techniques.

BY GIAN PAOLO CAPRETTINI


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For the artistic view of a photographer, they don't just communicate a production chain which

is animated by objects in the phase of completion. Biddau focuses the lens on these and, at

the same time, on those who are looking at the furnishings of the photograph. There is a need

to place an interpretive grid here that allows on

the one hand, with minimum eye distance, to bring

together the objective elements considered in

their actual reality, i.e. like constructed objects,

but on the other hand, to move away from the

object itself. To do this, it is necessary to consider

industrial architecture, the production line, to

capture a productive territory.

Observation points that change depending on the

distance that the photographer places between

his target and the surrounding reality.

Then there is the intermediate distance which separates the objects from the person who

works and who occupies the space where they are contained, who manipulates the machines

that produce them, and in doing so reveals a task of severity or a certain aesthetic wonder, as

if those objects come alive through him and at that precise moment.

By widening our eyes and maximising the distance between the target (i.e. the industrial world)

and the photographer’s vantage point, an historical consideration can be made between the

twentieth century, the century of total automation, and the twenty-first century, the era of virtuality.

The twentieth century is marked by machine fumes caused by temperature increases inside

the production areas; the twenty-first century unleashes the concept of virtuality, it is a time

when even industrial production dissolves into abstractness, becoming pure technological and

computerised effort and work.

Therefore, from this reading emerge categories

that can be used as reading tools, i.e. which are

useful to better understand that industrial

photography is not documentary photography, but

photography capable of capturing the interior of a

territory and of arresting strong elements full of

meaning. Nevertheless, it is a photography that

can surprise, often, because it reveals an

unconscious aesthetic quality since objects,

environments and people show something that

was not planned upstream. Niccolò Biddau’s photographs capture the birth in real time of the

product as well as its overall aesthetic consistency.

So there is the need to ask whether photography can generate a vision, an aesthetic, and a

capacity to amaze that is different from what reportage photography might return. Or whether

aesthetics refers to something manipulated, that is, something that captures the basic

elements and transforms them into something else.

TELECOM ITALIA. Telephone cable distribution system.

ITALCEMENTI. The limestone storage dome seen from within.


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Hence, there is the need to draw on categories in order to organise a reading of the prevailing

concepts. This division of categories can also be extended to interrogate ourselves on any

constructed object, on any design element and everyday product. Which is made up of

distances because we are spectators in front of

objects that are formed, but we are also the end

users. Therefore, we are in a position to observe

and enjoy the “show” because we have in front of

us, simultaneously, the architects of the

transformation of those objects, getting closer to

them, manipulating them, working on them and

finally, using them in our everyday life.

This perspective allows us to assign a certain

amount of autonomy to the object’s aesthetic

strength. And then there is the anthropological factor, i.e. the important role played by the

human being who works and who exerts his ability to control things; in front of an industrial

object, is he the executor of a production plan or is he also a manipulator of something? The

anthropological element can in no way be overlooked because it is always a person who gets

closer to the objects with his eyes and hands, and does so in a way that is never completely

programmed. There is, so to say, a space left for the instinctive force of control and

manipulation that industry is not able to negate, but that succeeds, conversely, to exalt it. The

industrial object in itself is not something present in nature, in the beginning it only exists as a

project, it has no shape; however, it subsequently undergoes a transformation and this ability

to transform is the factor that photography can suggest or contribute to strengthening,

because photography in itself is a transformative technique.

That’s why Biddau’s images appear to be able to communicate a sense of suspended time

and to decorate it with precious objects as if they were living creatures.

ZUCCHETTI RUBINETTERIA. Lever during the grinding process.


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SCENARIOS OF MADE IN ITALYBY SUSANNA LEGRENZI

A journey into the heart of Italian industry is an exploration that can be taken at different

speeds. There is the slow pace of a tradition that innovates without giving way to technology,

and the fast pace of those who have always taken risks with technology and anticipated future

trends. In the images, they are the hands that hold the needle to finish a detail; the people

wearing masks and white coats in the large pharmaceutical industry; the aerodynamic galleries

of the auto industry…

And short-range production, endless kilometres of success.

The eyes penetrate deeply into the know-how of the “Italian system” among details found in

industries that are camouflaged in the lunar landscapes hidden under an umbrella to lose

themselves, in cement dust and granules drawing a single red thread in the fluctuating

processes. In the era of dematerialisation of consumption, Italy has more than one district.

This tailored tradition is made up of wooden looms, cards and spools of thread. But also of the

mechanical action of a robotic arm.

The eyes examine. They stop. They widen when looking at broad-brimmed hats in rabbit fur.

They narrow when looking at fireballs of steel forged in never-ending hangars. They embrace

DUCATI.Ducati 1199 Panigale “Superquadro” Engine..


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warehouses that resemble the dense skyline of large oriental cities. The geographies, market

areas, raw materials, processes, gestures, spaces and backgrounds change, but not the

constants. From North to South, from East to West, the camera lens goes on a journey that

passes the continuous landscape of the great

Italian province, crosses the visual threshold of

the universe of consumption, and creeps into

production, following stories that become part of

History, of struggles and successes of a private

memoir of generations reduced by war,

repopulated during the economic boom,

reorganised by the logic of international markets,

but however still able to cultivate a sense of

belonging and ethics of doing.

Among short and long times, close prospects and straightforward investigations, unchanged

production chains and futuristic scenarios, shot after shot, the economy of numbers and the

logic of finance regain a concrete physiognomy, and certify the predicated “work” and specific

weight of the goods that go back to being the tangible paradigm of a daily activity that is

measured by the serial nature of an infinitely small zipper.

Despite the crisis of the international markets and stock exchanges, the good and bad omens,

from Made In Italy to Made in the World, among thermoforming processes and hand-finished

buttonholes, the portrait of the great “Italian Industry” is an important testimony of a

reality that still takes risks in technology and product design, rooted in the territory,

committed, visionary, strong. The register is, at times, that of its origins; at other times, it is

accompanied by slowdowns and accelerations in a seesaw of ambitions and goals, flexibility

and adaptability.

This allows Niccolò Biddau to perfectly define the processes, the breath, the energy, the

courage, and often also “beauty”. The unexpected beauty of a semi-finished product, a

gesture, a detail, an assembly, of interlacing words that accompany an in-depth investigation

aimed at reminding us of who we were, who we are and who we want to become in the not too

distant future, without ever losing sight of the production of wealth. And production of meaning.

BRUNELLO CUCINELLI. Cashmere clothing items being mended using traditional handcrafted techniques.


THE COMPANIES

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MECHANICS

FERALPILUCCHINI RSTENARISDALMINETRAFILERIE CARLO GNUTTISKFCOMAUBETA UTENSILIBREMBOGAMMASTAMPPRIMA POWERMAGNETI MARELLIFIAT GROUP AUTOMOBILESIVECOLAMBORGHINIDUCATIPRINOTHCAMPAGNOLOFRENER&REIFERFIAMMGEFRANGKN SINTER METALSMICROTECNICA AVIOAGUSTA WESTLANDALENIA AERMACCHISECONDO MONAFIOCCHI MUNIZIONIBERETTASIRA INDUSTRIEARNEGCERUTTIOCMI-OTGCAPRARICARPIGIANI

CHEMICAL

ALFA WASSERMANNGRUPPO BAYER ITALIAGLAXOSMITHKLINEROTTAPHARM | MADAUSZHERMACK BRACCOSTEVANATO GROUPSORIN BIOMEDICA CARDIOBELLCO

LECHLER RIVOIRAGRUPPO MOSSI&GHISOLFIITALCEMENTIPIRELLIAZIMUT YACHTSL’OREAL ITALIAGUALA CLOSURESIFAPVIROSAC3M ITALIA

FASHION

FILATURA DI GRIGNASCOBOSELLI BOTTO GIUSEPPE & FIGLI PIACENZA CASHMEREMARZOTTOARNALDO CAPRAI FERRINOLANFRANCHIBRUNELLO CUCINELLILUISA SPAGNOLIDOLCE&GABBANA INDUSTRIABLUMARINEMANIFATTURA TESSILE DI NOLEMISSONIRATTICORNELIANIMORESCHIBORBONESEBORSALINOAURORA PENNE

FOOD

CAMPARISANPELLEGRINOBRANCABIRRA FORSTMENABREABERLUCCHICERETTOZENATODISTILLERIE BONOLLO MORGANTE

RIGAMONTISTARPONTIAIAAURICCHIOZANETTIMARIO COSTAFABBRI 1905PERUGINAMAJANI 1796LINDT ITALIABAULICAFFÈ VERGNANO

FURNITURE

CASSINAZANOTTAB&B ITALIAMOROSOCALLIGARISTECNOZUCCHETTI RUBINETTERIA FLOUVALLI&VALLICAIMI BREVETTIARTEMIDEFANTONICORRADIFLORIM CERAMICHERUBNERLISTONE GIORDANOSNAIDERODIERRECALDERONI ALESSI

COMMUNICATIONS

FONDAZIONE FIERA MILANOMONDADORITELECOM ITALIAMEDIASETPOSTE ITALIANEIL SOLE 24 OREBURGO GROUPFEDRIGONICARTIERA MANTOVANA


PRESS IMAGES

1_ TENARISDALMINE. Steelworks: hot bars on curved continuous casting machine.

2_ FIAT GROUP AUTOMOBILES. Centro Stile Fiat. Work session in virtual room to assess style profile

refinement of Fiat 500.

3_ DUCATI. Ducati 1199 Panigale “Superquadro” Engine.

4_ ITALCEMENTI. The limestone storage dome seen from within.

5_ PIRELLI. After the curing process, the tyres are sent to the Finishing Area for a final quality check.

6_ GUALA CLOSURES. Safety closures for alcoholic beverages with anti-counterfeiting system.

7_ FILATURA DI GRIGNASCO. Pure wool top: the beginning of fashion.

8_ LANFRANCHI. Elements attached in a continuous chain: the technology meets elegance.

9_ BRUNELLO CUCINELLI. Cashmere clothing items being mended using traditional handcrafted techniques.

10_ CORNELIANI. Handmade finishing detail.

11_ BORSALINO. Semi-finished hats on rack to be air-dried.

12_ CASSINA. Barrel chairs in the carpentry shop before final assembly, design Frank Lloyd Wright.

13_ ZUCCHETTI RUBINETTERIA. Components of the Bellagio collection during the assembly process.

14_ ALESSI. Assembly of kettle with bird whistle, design by Michael Graves.

15_ CAMPARI. Camparisoda bottles designed by Fortunato Depero in 1932.

16_ ZANETTI. Grana Padano maturing warehouse.

17_ BAULI. A pandoro coming out of the oven.

18_ TELECOM ITALIA. Telephone cable distribution system in the exchange.

REPRODUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

The photographs are available exclusively for reproduction in an article or review of the exhibition

INDUSTRIA by Niccolò Biddau, which will be held from 29 November 2013 to 6 February 2014

at the Triennale di Milano, Viale Alemagna 6.

All the photographs must be accompanied by the credits and captions, as described in the list.

Reproductions must be faithful, including chromatically, to the originals, taking are to identify the

work and reproduce it perfectly in full.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

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TRIENNALE MEDIA RELATIONS

Tel. +39 02 72434247

e-mail: [email protected]

MEDIA RELATIONS

Erica Prous

Tel. +39 347 12 00 420

e-mail: [email protected]


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NICCOLÒ BIDDAUBORN IN ITALY (TURIN), 1966

FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER SINCE 1988

INTERNET: WWW.NICCOLOBIDDAU.COM

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NICCOLOBIDDAU

EMAIL: [email protected]

Niccolò Biddau began his career in 1988 as a freelance photographer, doing reportages in the

Far East and Latin America. He later focused on nude and fashion photography in Italy and

abroad, and since 1998 has been specializing in black and white photography, focusing mainly

on urban landscapes, sculptures and interiors. 2002 marked a turning point in his career when,

investigating the production cycles of companies, he began to place the "aesthetics of technology"

at the centre of his interpretative language. From then on he placed all his efforts into developing

this theme by creating photographic services on the excellence of Italian industry, which were

published in monographs, displayed in exhibitions and featured in major Italian magazines and

publications. This was accompanied by a new core of research: architectural complexes and

monuments and their artistic components. In 2005, in addition to his work as a photographer,

he became an editor of books and exhibitions dedicated to Italian industrial photography for

important Italian institutions and companies.

He collaborates with publishers, institutions and industries in the creation of photographic

campaigns. His photos have been published in monographs, displayed at exhibitions and have

won awards.

In 2010, because of his originality, artistic merits and style, the Black and White Spider Awards

Jury - made up of thirty-nine of the most important names in the world of photography - judged

him to be one of the best black and white photographers in the world.

His photographs are characterised by his ability to reshape the contours of the reality of things,

transferring to them all the subjective feeling that a vision is capable of suggesting. The adoption

of black and white photography allows him to work on empty and full spaces, enhancing the

absolute nature of matter through the stillness that is trapped within. His photography focuses

on the static nature of industrial objects, as well as sculptural and architectural forms, and this is

conveyed in the details, almost always hidden, but which once identified, leap out in all their vitality.


BOOKSTHE MOST RECENT INCLUDE:

2012 Industria II ed. - PHOTO PUBLISHER

2011 Industria - PHOTO PUBLISHER

2007 Piemonte Industria. Un secolo di lavoro in fotografia - PHOTO PUBLISHERCultura d’impresa in Lombardia. Un secolo di lavoro in fotografia - PHOTO PUBLISHER

2006 Sculture ritrovate dell’AEM - Federico Motta Editore

2005 Gli Uomini, il lavoro, la fabbrica - Federico Motta Editore

EXHIBITIONSTHE MOST RECENT INCLUDE:

2011 L’estetica della tecnologia, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, San Francisco, USA (CA) Immagini dall’Archivio Fiat 1980-2010, Museo Fiat, Turin, ItalyRegioni e Testimonianze d’Italia. Fiat 1899 - 2011, Roma, ItalyPiemonte Industria, Design Factory, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Piemonte Industria, Východoslovenská galéria, Košice, Slovak Republic

2010 Cento anni di imprese per l'Italia, Triennale, Milano, Italy (group)Cento anni di imprese per l'Italia, Ara Pacis, Roma, Italy (group) Piemonte Industria, Museo ItaloAmericano, San Francisco, USA (CA)

2009 Piemonte IndustriaBELGIO: La Fonderie, BruxellesARGENTINA: Buenos Aires - Luque, Cordoba - Mar del PlataITALIA: Castello San Michele, Cagliari

Lombardia Industria, Fiera di Bergamo, Italia

AWARDSTHE MOST RECENT INCLUDE:

2013 European Photo Book of the Year Awards, EuropeWinner of the Monographs category with the book INDUSTRIA

2012 Black and White Spider Awards, Los Angeles (USA) - London (UK)Two nominations for the Abstract and Still Life categories

2011 Black and White Spider Awards, Los Angeles (USA) - London (UK)Three nominations for the Abstract and Still Life categories

2010 Black and White Spider Awards, Los Angeles (USA) - London (UK)1st Place - Outstanding Achievement, winner of the Still Life category

2009 International Photography Awards, Los Angeles (USA)Honourable mention for the Industrial category

2008 PremioFotografico, Milano, ItaliaWinner of the Interior Design e Architecture categories

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PRATICAL INFORMATION

EXHIBITION OPENS ON NOVEMBER 29, 2013 UNTIL JANUARY 6, 2014 OPEN FROM TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, FROM 10:30AM UNTIL 8:30PM

THURSDAY FROM 10:30AM UNTIL 11:00PMCLOSED ON MONDAYS

FREE ADMISSION

ADMISSION

TRIENNALE DI MILANO

SALA IMPLUVIUMVIALE EMILIO ALEMAGNA, 6, 20121 MILANO

TEL. +39 02 724341WWW.TRIENNALE.ORG

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE

INDUSTRIAPHOTO PUBLISHER

ITALIAN-ENGLISH TEXTS

ON SALE AT TRIENNALE BOOKSTORE

PRESS RELATIONS

EXHIBITION MEDIA RELATIONS

ERICA PROUS

TEL. +39 347 12 00 420

E-MAIL: [email protected]

TRIENNALE MEDIA RELATIONS

TEL. +39 02 72434247

E-MAIL: [email protected]

WEB

WWW.NICCOLOBIDDAU.COM/EXHIBITIONSWWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NICCOLOBIDDAU

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INDUSTRIA

CORPORATE SPONSORS

WITH THE COLLABORATION

WITH THE PATRONAGE

MEDIA PARTNER

A TOAST WITH

TECHNICAL SPONSORS

CS_TRIENNALE PAGINA LOGHI EN_CS_SAN FRANCISCO 24/11/13 23:49 Pagina 1

Industry has never been so compellingGuido Berlucchi at Niccolò Biddau’s “Industria” exhibit

Opens 28 November at the Triennale di Milano toasted by Berlucchi ‘61

Borgonato, November 11, 2013

The delicate tracery of the grape bud, the self-confident architecture of the 17th-century cellar,

the feathery beauty of sediment in the bottle, and the austere geometry of phalanxes of

maturing bottles.

Expert photographer Niccolò Biddau, has sensitively explored the centuries-old Guido Berlucchi

wine cellars in Borgonato in Franciacorta, transforming natural, historical, and technological

details into artworks in black and white, thus imbuing them with a new material aura, almost

a second soul, in a projection “beyond” object and place.

These images will be featured at the upcoming Industria exhibit, along with Biddau’s other

photographs of illustrious brands of Italy’s industries, opening at the Triennale di Milano on 28

November at 7.00pm.

Complementing the images, documentary filmmaker Giovannij Lucci will screen his fascinating video

account, with Franco Ziliani, Guido Berlucchi President and winemaker, providing a commentary.

Ziliani bears credit for the creation of the first classic-method Franciacorta, Pinot di Franciacorta

1961, making him the pioneer in the economic development of the growing area. To commemorate

that first wine, maison Guido Berlucchi recently introduced its Franciacorta Berlucchi ’61 line;

the portfolio’s Brut style will be the official toast of the exhibit vernissage.

Further information:

Francesca Facchetti

[email protected]

Tel: + 39 340.3849521


Milano, November 11, 2013

Guala Closures Group, an Italian multinational company and world leading manufacturer of anti-

refillable closures and aluminium screwcaps for spirits, wine, oil and vinegar, water and

beverages, foods and pharmaceuticals, for years engaged in technological innovation and design

of its products, has chosen to be a sponsor of the exhibition "INDUSTRIA". The project brings

out the feeling of industrial production not only through technical quality, but also through the

aesthetic form of the products, making them real "works of art" able to transmit those values

inherent, though not always evident, of creativity, ingenuity, process, thinking, that characterize

the commitment of the people working in Guala Closures Group, which today registers about

4,000 employees and 25 manufacturing plants worldwide. The exhibition fully represents the

excellence of Made in Italy, of which Guala Closures becomes a promoter in the world through

its products, sold in over 100 countries, and its know-how, thanks to the 5 research centers in

India, China, Mexico, Scotland and Italy where they have created 20 new products over the past

three years and registered more than 70 international patents.

Further information:

PMS – Ufficio Stampa Guala Closures

Federica Menichino – [email protected]

Laura Brocca – [email protected]

Tel: + 39 02 48000250


WWW.NICCOLOBIDDAU.COM/EXHIBITIONS


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