Tommaso Grella - Opium

-Series Title: "Kenshō" 2015-2026.
-Artwork Title: Opium.
-Prints in a limited edition of only ten, numbered and signed on the back by the artist.
-The work is ready to hang on the wall.
-Print size: 30x40 cm, satin finish, mounted in a thick mat.
-Frame size: 52 x 42 cm, 2 cm thick, white.
-Photographic print in perfect condition.
-This work is made with a personal technique.

-Series Title: "Kenshō" 2015-2026.
-Artwork Title: Opium.
-Prints in a limited edition of only ten, numbered and signed on the back by the artist.
-The work is ready to hang on the wall.
-Print size: 30x40 cm, satin finish, mounted in a thick mat.
-Frame size: 52 x 42 cm, 2 cm thick, white.
-Photographic print in perfect condition.
-This work is made with a personal technique.

The title of the series "Kenshō" is a term widely used in Zen, translated as "seeing the essences." It denotes the gaze that suddenly transforms our way of perceiving reality, revealing to us the true nature of all things; from these fleeting moments we understand our being in the world.

Tommaso Grella was born in Roccapiemonte on October 29, 1973. From a very young age he devoted himself to author and reportage photography. His works, both photographic and painterly, have been exhibited in various shows at the Caritas Diocesana di Salerno. He founded the association "Bianco Fotografico" in 1996, with which he presents various events. He conceived, together with others, "Estate in Villa"; the 1997 series "Quetzalcóatl"; in 1998 "Visione Zen" and also "On Voyage" inspired by the great American photographer Lee Friedlander. The 1998 work "Dream" is an homage to cinema; among others influenced by the works of Michelangelo Antonioni, François Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Terrence Malick, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, and Bernardo Bertolucci. He collaborated as a photographer for the magazine "Sposa Magazine".
Other works to follow draw inspiration from the greats of world photography: Sarah Moon, Masao Yamamoto, Peter Lindbergh, Ralph Gibson, Joel-Peter Witkin, Josef Koudelka, Mimmo Jodice.
He continued with various solo shows and in 1999 opened a studio gallery in the province of Salerno, focusing on wedding reportage photography; he published several art calendars for the territory.
He successfully devoted himself to advertising and industrial photography. He photographed in digital and for other sector magazines published his photos.
He became passionate about web design and the new opportunities offered by the Internet, combining classical photographic techniques with modern-generation software. Over the years there were other research projects, in the portfolio section, beside the title of the work the series to which it belongs is indicated.
A central pillar of his production is capturing non-obvious images, able to awaken consciousness with themes such as: reflection on the now-distant relationship with divinity, nature that is within us but forgotten, everyday affections diminished, the alien gaze on what one wants to define as reality.
Immersion in an "dreamlike" world can only benefit our being, lobotomized by ethical and economic values that do not belong to us, opening doors to other realities neglected by modern society but worthy of attention and dignity.