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.

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

Tommaso Grella was born in Roccapiemonte on October 29, 1973. As a young man he devoted himself to fine art and documentary photography. His works, both photographic and painterly, have been exhibited in various shows at the Diocesan Caritas in Salerno. Founder of the association "Bianco Fotografico" in 1996, with which he presents various events. He co-created with others "Estate in Villa", the 1997 series "Quetzalcóatl", in 1998 "Visione Zen" and also "On Voyage" which are inspired by the great American photographer Lee Friedlander. The 1998 work "Dream" is instead a tribute to cinema; among others it is influenced by the works of Michelangelo Antonioni, François Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Terrence Malick, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci. He collaborates as a photographer for the magazine "Sposa Magazine". Other works to follow draw inspiration from the giants of world photography: Sarah Moon, Masao Yamamoto, Peter Lindbergh, Ralph Gibson, Joel-Peter Witkin, Josef Koudelka, Mimmo Jodice. He continues with various solo shows and in 1999 opens a studio-gallery in the province of Salerno, focusing on ceremonial photojournalism; he publishes various art calendars for the territory. He successfully dedicates himself to advertising and industrial photography. He shoots in digital form and in other sector magazines publish his photos. He becomes passionate about web design and the new opportunities offered by the internet, combining classic photographic techniques with next-generation software. Over the years other explorations follow; 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 to capture nontrivial images, capable of awakening consciousness with themes such as: reflection on the now-suppressed relationship with divinity, nature that is within us but is forgotten, everyday affections diminished, the alien gaze on what one wants to define as reality. Immersion in a dreamlike world can only benefit our being, lobotomized by ethical and economic values that do not belong to us, opening doors to other realities that are mistreated by modern society but deserving attention and dignity.