Paolo Ventura porta il suo universo onirico al Goeun Photo Art Museum di Busan
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6 March 2025 – Time to read: 5 min
Paolo Ventura Brings His Dreamlike Universe to the Goeun Photo Art Museum in Busan
The Goeun Photo Art Museum in Busan, South Korea, is hosting the exhibition A Tale of Two Cities until July 2, 2025. This showcase creates a dialogue between the work of Italian artist Paolo Ventura and photographer Josef Schulz. It is a meeting of two unique photographic visions, where storytelling and memory play a central role.
Paolo Ventura: Between Dream and Reality
Born in Milan in 1968, Paolo Ventura began his career as a fashion photographer before dedicating himself to artistic experimentation. His works are characterized by the construction of miniature dioramas intricate stage sets that he photographs to create images suspended between reality and imagination. This unique approach has made his work internationally recognizable, allowing him to exhibit in major museums and institutions.
Ventura is a visual storyteller inspired by Italian neorealism and childhood tales. His images evoke an undefined past, filled with melancholic atmospheres frozen in time. Through masterful use of light and composition, he transforms his characters into almost theatrical figures, immersed in hand-painted backdrops or settings crafted from repurposed materials.
The Exhibition: A Journey Between Two Cities
The exhibition A Tale of Two Cities was conceived as a dialogue between two different approaches to photography: on one side, Josef Schulz explores the boundary between reality and fiction through digital image manipulation; on the other, Paolo Ventura’s dreamlike and narrative universe.
Ventura’s works on display in Busan include some of his most renowned series, in which he combines photography, painting, and installation. His creations resemble stills from an unseen film, inhabited by enigmatic characters and set in imaginary cities, often inspired by historical Italian or European urban landscapes.
A distinctive element of Ventura’s work is his hybrid technique: he constructs the sets, photographs them, and then manually alters the prints, adding layers of color or painted details. This process gives his images a painterly and almost tactile quality, making them unique within the contemporary photography landscape.
The Significance of This Exhibition
The Goeun Photo Art Museum in Busan is one of the most prestigious institutions dedicated to contemporary photography in South Korea. Through this exhibition, the museum offers visitors the opportunity to explore two complementary artistic visions: on one hand, it invites the viewer to reflect on the visual perception of places through the work of the Polish photographer, known for his conceptual approach and meticulous compositional balance; on the other, it presents Ventura’s intimate and constructed interpretation of imagery.
The exhibition also highlights the value of visual storytelling as a tool for exploring memory and identity. In an era dominated by digital imagery and instant communication, Paolo Ventura’s work represents a return to craftsmanship and the construction of images as a slow, reflective artistic process.
Practical Information
The exhibition *A Tale of Two Cities* will be open until July 2, 2025, at the Goeun Photo Art Museum, located in the Haeundae district of Busan. For more information on tickets and opening hours, it is recommended to visit the museum’s official website.
With this exhibition, Paolo Ventura continues his journey between dream and reality, inviting the Korean audience to immerse themselves in his world of intricate details, suspended atmospheres, and timeless stories.
