Botto & Bruno Biography
Both from Turin, Gianfranco Botto (1963) and Roberta Bruno (1966) form the artistic duo Botto and Bruno. Active since the early 90s, they express themselves mainly through photography, video and installation. From the beginning they captured attention with their visions of desolate urban suburbs where dark skies, abandoned buildings and degraded places combine to create an atmosphere of melancholy and solitude. In these scenarios the human presence is initially absent, while later it is represented by young solitary figures, with faces often hidden, wandering among ruins and debris. Often set up in the form of large wallpapers that cover the entire walls and floors of the exhibition spaces, Botto and Bruno's works depict existential conditions poised between squalor and beauty, restlessness and hope. Contemporary cinematographic and musical imagery have a significant weight in their work, where explicit references sometimes appear: from the films of Gus Van Sant to the music of Sonic Youth, just to give a few examples. Botto and Bruno's works have been exhibited in numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Italy and abroad, including Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Palazzo delle Arti , Naples, manifesta 7, Bolzano, CaixaForum Fundacio “la Caixa”, Barcelona, MAMCO, Geneva, 8th Shanghai Biennial — Act 3: Rehearsal, Shanghai. Furthermore, in 2001 the Turin couple participated in the Venice Biennale with a project created for the entrance to the Corderie entitled “House Where Nobody Lives”. Among the most important recognitions and prizes received by the duo: the “Premio Torino meets… Art”, promoted by the ArteGiovane Association of Turin, the Residency at Couvent des Récollets in Paris, the international competition for the creation of a work of art in the new Citadel of Justice in Venice.
