Massimo Vitali – Geografie della contemporaneità

On the occasion of the 22nd Giornata del Contemporaneo, promoted by AMACI, the UniCredit Art Collection presents a selection of five works by Massimo Vitali: #1920 Papeete Beach Regatta (2006), #1466 Bagni Lido Verticale (2006), #0059 Riccione Diptych Right (2006), #0049 Viareggio Air Show (2006), and #2779 Mondello Monte Pellegrino 2 (2007).

Among the most important contemporary Italian photographers, Massimo Vitali (Como, 1944) has, since the mid-1990s, developed a body of work focused on places of social interaction and leisure, such as beaches, seaside resorts, swimming pools, and tourist destinations. These settings are observed through expansive panoramic views captured from elevated vantage points. This compositional approach, combined with the use of diffused natural light and an extraordinary richness of detail, gives his images both a documentary and analytical character, transforming everyday scenes into complex portraits of contemporary society.

Through his work, the artist offers a collective vision of a new social geography of contemporary life, in which the community becomes the central subject and shared space is transformed into a tool for interpreting the social, cultural, and relational dynamics of our time. His photographs invite viewers to see the present as a space in constant transformation, shaped by relationships, behaviours, and collective dynamics.

Italian beaches emerge as a vision of landscape understood as a social construct, generated by the people who inhabit and move through it. Within these spaces, shared practices, forms of coexistence, and ways of occupying public space become visible and tangible.

The dialogue between Vitali’s images and the historical heritage of Palazzo Magnani therefore offers a reflection on the relationship between the individual, the community, and the territory, proposing an interpretation of landscape as an expression of the cultural and social geographies of our time.