Franco Fontana: Urbani featured works revolving around the subject of the city and his urban panoramas, spanning from 1965 to 2017 and including rare vintage prints, unique Polaroids and collages.

Fontana’s language reaches its full maturity in his urban landscapes; his typical manipulation of the depth of field that makes the landscape two-dimensional finds its apex, and a complete 'geometrization' of the subject takes place. Fontana was interested in the extrapolation of urban fragments from the very early years. However, this took a sudden acceleration when his gaze fixed upon the shapes and colours of the New Continent.

The clear-cut surfaces, the geometries and the bright hues of sun-kissed California were a visual detachment from the Italian urban panorama and inspired Fontana with some incredible compositions. Objects near and far appear next to each other like parts of an abstract mosaic. It is as if through his eye and lens, we too saw these cities for the first time.

With the advent of the Polaroid, the medium's immediacy perfectly complemented Fontana’s dynamic personality and allowed him to take pictures in less formal settings; he began using it as a notebook, research tool and visual diary. “The Polaroid was some kind of magic, a fascinating mirage that emerged in front of your very eyes in a few minutes. That moment captured with the excitement and satisfaction of seeing it immediately: the joy of childhood." 

Often his Polaroids were manipulated afterwards, with the emulsion transferred onto cardboard, which became the basis for a collage; this is a fundamental part of Fontana's production that is still unknown to most people. 

The show will also feature his most recent images, part of a surprising and little-exhibited series shot in Cuba and Trinidad only in 2017. In his pastel-toned photos of the Caribbean, we immediately recognise the freshness and originality of his gaze as well as all the elements of his visual grammar.