Meet Teresa Giannico
Teresa Giannico's work masterfully blurs the lines between reality and perception, offering a thought-provoking exploration of the photographic medium. The unique approach combines the disciplines of photography and painting, challenging viewers to question the authenticity of the visual world. Transforming images sourced from the digital landscape, narratives are crafted that move between actuality and fabrication.
Teresa's art invites a reflective examination of how images shape our understanding of reality, encouraging deeper contemplation of the subtle boundary between the genuine and the artificial. In this artist's hands, the familiar becomes a canvas for reimagining the possibilities of visual representation.
What inspires you to alter reality through your lens?
T.G: My research lies in the photography circulating on the web, which provides me with an ever-changing overview of the society we live in. Unlike a traditional photographer, whose journey culminates in capturing a specific shot, for me, the experience begins right at the end: with the analysis of someone else's capture. That moment opens up new reflections and creative possibilities for me. I belong to a generation immersed in photography in every aspect of life, where the overdose of reality (or perceived reality) injected daily, especially through social media, stimulates me to realize pictures of a different nature, to remind that it's precisely about images, hence transpositions. Although my main references are found in painting, I have never been able to ignore photography for its intrinsic characteristics: the scientific value attributed to it when combined with other mediums leads to a short-circuit in the viewer's eyes.
“Grace” 2023.
How do you merge reality and imagination in your art?
T.G: I have a background as a painter and a specialization in photography. This not only entails hybridizing languages for me but also entails that my research oscillates between intimate experimentation and more objective analyses of the surrounding reality, all driven by a deep interest in representation and the use of imagery in our society. There are projects, therefore, where I work entirely with imagination, while others where I am more faithful to reality.
“Brother's bedside table,” 2023.
Considering the viewer's interaction with your art and the current image-saturated culture, how does your work challenge their perceptions and address the prevalence of digital versus physical worlds?
T.G: I believe that digital has the same power as an image per se, but for me, physical artwork retains a higher degree of alchemy. The one-to-one relationship between the artwork and the viewer, the dimension of the piece, the context—all change the way of communication. I always strive to challenge myself on these aspects to provide an experience for those who attend my exhibitions.
From the exhibition “Archives of Empathy” to Viasaterna, Milan.
Where does the combination of painting and photography take your artistic exploration?
T.G: Relying on painting with a medium, such as photography, closely tied to immediacy and reality, leads to unplanned results, where things happen, are experimented with, and pose new questions. Thus, work becomes an exploration for me.
“Portrait of the guy on red canvas” 2022
How do you select elements of reality to transform in your art?
T.G: It depends on the project. In general, I save all those images that spark some kind of curiosity in me, especially from a grammatical point of view. For me, there is a semantics of the image that I always try to identify in the form of photos that circulate online, especially those on social media. In my latest project, "The War is Happening On Your Smartphone," I was, for example, very struck by the circulating war images representing a communication model, in "You Will Return, You Will Return"; however, I was looking for all those photos which somehow brought back my memory.
Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip, August 2022. Footage from YouTube @MalaysiaGazette TV coming after lipstick commercials, 2024.
How has digital culture influenced our understanding of authenticity in imagery?
T.G: The new generations are much more knowledgeable in photography; for most of Western society, it has become the privileged language. This means that on a technical level, many can perhaps guess a false image from a real one, unlike older age groups who are easily subject to plagiarism. But photography or video is not just this; in a world permeated by these means, they subtly shape many of our lifestyles and ways of being in the world, and from this point of view, I believe there are various dangers for whom a new grammar of seeing should be built.
What personal discoveries have emerged from your artistic process?
T.G: For each project, the experiences are different. Basically, I am passionate about sociology and I like to explore how images can influence us. Above all, I like to discover how pieces of everyday reality, in the form of a work of art, are truly seen as if it were the first time. One of my latest projects, for example, saw the construction in scale, through rephotographed cardboard models, of a space that visitors to the exhibition had already frequented several times. However, when they saw the images of that place reconstructed in detail, they noticed for the first time many details that they had always ignored, even from an emotional point of view they perceived it differently.
“Truths which no longer entertain, become lies” Poster, 2023.
Can you share an experience where an image deeply influenced your artistic direction?
T.G: I can't imagine one specifically, in my head there is the same media chaos that is found on the web. Perhaps the only one that has really impressed me recently and with which I started to do extensive research is that of a Ukrainian TikTok influencer who films herself smiling next to tanks. The image in itself might seem excessive, in reality, this girl has found an ironic key to talk about the condition of war to younger age groups and with excellent success. Where is the limit? What is acceptable and what is not? These are among the challenges that the image poses to us today.
I can’t talk right now, I’m doing hot girl sh*t!!!! Ukraine, September 2022. The TikToker Valerisssh showcases the tanks provided by the United Kingdom.
What themes or ideas are you currently exploring, and what upcoming projects do you have?
T.G: I'm currently carrying out an investigation into how the constant search for self-representation in today's Western world is dismantling the sense of community. I would like to highlight how it has become almost impossible not to communicate through images, at the risk of feeling cut off from society, and how this whole performance causes phenomena of individualism, loneliness, and emotional stress.
