Pinus Attis



"Adamo: you look like a Pagan satyr out of Ovid, very classical, very ancient. You are morphing into a tree: as in the ancient legend of Baucis and Philemon."
~ John Devlin (Visual artist)

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"Full of tension!"
~ Anton Lechner (Visual artist)

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"When I look at this image, I smell the scent of pine and also feel the sticky resin that oozes from the cluster of needles. The starburst makes me think more that the man is a humble hero, receiving a laurel wreath, but knowing that fame is short-lived. I also see it as a crown of thorns, suggesting that suffering is part of life, that if we survive, our appreciation of existence is that much sweeter. The power of the image depends on the double reading of the laurel wreath (positive) and the crown of thorns (negative). The reading can veer in many directions (and of course it goes without saying, it depends on the viewers' personal frame of mind). Provocative, as usual, Adamo!"
~ Jan Kather (American media artist at Elmira College) 

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"Studying the portrait, I see iconic significance, not only pagan, but also Christian, a facet mentioned by other viewers who sense something more going on besides the picture of a handsome man with a symbolic hat. A startling comparison occurs to me: startling because it comes unbidden, and may either be stretching a point or egregious chutzpah, but clearly the reason for the portrait’s apparent familiarity. The more I study this recent manifestation of a Macri face, the more I recall another distinct image rendered centuries ago and techniques apart. Out of the treasure chest of cultural memories, from the warehouse of images we all carry with us, one other self-portrait presents itself and asks to be looked at again."

Pinus Attis, 2013
Photography: Chromogenic C-print
41 x 48 cm
Overall: 65 x 73 x 8 cm