Mauro Balletti, «Mina’s photographer», is a multifaceted man, of few words and a lot of art. Saturday 22 May inaugurates and Noto, a Nicolaci Palace – the wonderful baroque palace next to which, on the steps, the famous infiorata takes place every year – his personal one Between drawing, painting and photography, curated by Paola Ruffino, thanks to Karl Wolfsgruber and the Altera Domus Cultural Association (until 25 July).
If you want to have a taste of his works, “a crazy harmony” of creativity from the Eighties to today, take a look at the gallery that we offer you, with some of the works he has selected for us.
“My favorite? The Man with a Flower: I would buy it! »jokes Balletti on the phone from Milan, just before leaving for Sicily. The thought runs to Battiato, of course: “It’s not the kind of music I followed, but I appreciated his intellectual and artistic path”. Of Mina, on the other hand, he has been a great fan since he was a child: «She gave me everything: I started photographing her when I was only twenty years old», he says.
Paternal grandfather painter, parents watercolors, Ballets in the early seventies studied and worked with rigor on the palette: “In 1973 Mina Mazzini, whom I had recently met thanks to the adolescent determination and stubbornness given byabsolute love I had for her and her artknowing that I was drawing, she asked me to take some photos of her during the making of some Carousels ». That’s how he tells it, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Since then, from those first photos taken with a Nikon loaned by a friend, Mauro Balletti will become Mina’s photographer, “with love and total recklessness”. And how do you work with someone like Mina? “Like any great artist, she is a seer: she surprises you every time. She is futurist: cultured, crazy, ironic and intelligent. He gave me everything“. Very clear.
For her Mauro Balletti has not only created and continues to make photographic portraits, but real artistic projects for the covers of his records, including reworking and creations of images, including virtual ones. On display in Noto, there are some works dedicated to Mina, such as Ti I know masque (cover of the 1990 album) freely inspired by Picasso «Who is my favorite artist, but I also feel great affinity with Giacometti while the abundant forms of Botero they amuse me, but in reality far from my imagination ».
The rest of the production reflects the creative versatility of this photographer, visual artist and director: Balletti is a refined and also ironic artist (take a look at the titles of some works). He loves ink (“treacherous technique: if you make a mistake you can’t correct”) and drawing. His works are pervaded by sinuous lines, underline the physicality of the bodies of the subjects portrayed and are based on an undeniable compositional elegance: «It is often more interesting to see the process, the making of a work of art, than the accomplished result. The finite is definitive, while the projects open you to infinite possibilities ».
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