The works we see presented during exhibitions are most often only a tiny fraction of a museum’s overall collection, the entirety of which is held in private storage vaults. These tightly guarded spaces contain countless treasures – some of which are simply too valuable to be put on display. Italian photographer Mauro Fiorese was granted unprecedented access to the archives of Italy’s most renowned museums – including the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and Galleria Borghese, both in Rome – for his ongoing series ‘Treasure Rooms’, which recently made its US debut at Robert Mann Gallery in New York City.
The images document the vast, labyrinthine hallways of these underground archives, lined with innumerable racks and shelves, and stacked with masterpieces. A tension emerges between the sumptuous oil paintings and the sterile, meticulously ordered environment in which they are housed. These vaults are not as romantic as we might have imagined them to be, but there is a beauty within the precision. The photographs reveal that underneath the ground of our beloved museums is a kind of parallel exhibition space, as carefully considered as the central exhibition galleries (sometimes the clusters of objects even appear to be curated) yet weaving alternative strands of art history.
Fiorese stages his photographs to echo the subject matter: the compositions mimic the perspective constructions of Renaissance paintings and the resulting images are printed on cotton paper, and encased in glass and a gilded museum-ready frame. The striking absence of a human presence in this mysterious world creates the sense of being in a slightly surreal, imaginary art gallery – one made entirely for the figures inside the paintings, to stand guard and quietly wait.
The images document the vast, labyrinthine hallways of these underground archives, lined with innumerable racks and shelves, and stacked with masterpieces. Pictured: Treasure Rooms of the Galleria Degli Uffizi – Florence, 2014
The photographs reveal that underneath the ground of our beloved museums is a kind of parallel exhibition space. Pictured:
Treasure Rooms of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna – Turin, 2014
Fiorese stages his photographs to echo the subject matter: the compositions mimic the perspective constructions of Renaissance paintings and the resulting images are printed on cotton paper, and encased in glass and a gilded museum-ready frame. Pictured: Treasure Rooms of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna – Turin, 2014
The striking absence of human presence in this mysterious world creates the sense of being in a slightly surreal, imaginary art gallery. Pictured: Treasure Rooms of the Depositi Della Galleria Borghese – Roma, 2014
Treasure Rooms of the Museo Correr – Venice, 2015
Treasure Rooms of the Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Roverteto, 2015
INFORMATION
'Mauro Fiorese: Treasure Rooms' is on view until 22 October. For more information, visit the Robert Mann Gallery's website
ADDRESS
Robert Mann Gallery
525 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
-
Lexus installation explores time at Milan Design Week 2024Lexus brought designer Hideki Yoshimoto’s ‘Beyond the Horizon’ to Milan’s Art Point, part of its ongoing series of collaborations with Fuorisalone
-
Cult 1960s boutique Granny Takes A Trip gets a sustainable rebootFounded on King’s Road in 1966, ‘radically creative’ fashion store Granny Takes A Trip is being reimagined for a new generation. Dal Chodha takes a closer look
-
Find yourself at Six Senses Kyoto, the brand's breathtaking Japan debutSix Senses Kyoto opens its doors boasting tranquil, luxurious interiors by Blink Design Group
-
The cosmos meets art history in Vivian Greven’s New York exhibitionVivian Greven’s ‘When the Sun Hits the Moon’, at Perrotin in New York City, is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the USA
-
The Met’s ‘The Real Thing: Unpacking Product Photography’ dissects the avant-garde in early advertisingA new exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York explores the role of product photography and advertising in shaping the visual language of modernism
-
Tony Notarberardino’s Chelsea Hotel Portraits preserve a slice of bygone New York life‘Tony Notarberardino: Chelsea Hotel Portraits, 1994-2010’, on show at New York’s ACA Galleries, is the photographer’s ode to the storied hotel he calls home and its eclectic clientele
-
‘LA Gun Club’: artist Jane Hilton on who’s shooting who‘LA Gun Club’, an exhibition by Jane Hilton at New York’s Palo Gallery, explores American gun culture through a study of targets and shooters
-
Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Black cinema‘Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971’ at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) brings lost or forgotten films, filmmakers and performers to a contemporary audience
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in AmericaBLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
-
Todd Gray’s sculptural photography collages defy dimension, linearity and narrativeIn Todd Gray’s New York exhibition, he revisits his 40-year archive, fragmented into elaborated frames that open doors for new readings
-
Frieze LA 2024 guide: the art, gossip and buzzOur Frieze LA 2024 guide includes everything you need to know and see in and around the fair
