Dani’s Blog

It’s been Italian week at 59. The gallery is hosting three artists (Antonio Bonura, Marianna Mendozza and Angelo Maisto) who drove up to Paris last weekend. We’ve simultaneously had Guappecarto (longtime friends of 59) play concerts here in the gallery, at New Morning and at L’International. The rhythm of the language is the air and the Tuscan wine is flowing.

Yesterday I arrived at 59 needing desperately to make photos. I set up my lights fast, trying not to trip visitors with my cables (high Sunday afternoon traffic), and ran down to the gallery to propose a quick shoot with Marianna, Saverio, Angelo, Tony and his dog Rocco before the concert started.

Marianna Mendozza and Saverio Montella

Antonio Bonura and Rocco

Angelo Maisto

After those spontaneous portraits, I ran down to the gallery where Guappecarto had started playing. If you are in Paris and you don’t know them already, check ‘em out. The first time I heard them play was also the day I entered 59 Rivoli for the first time. On the inspiration scale, this day was seriously high.

Frank Cosentini et Dr Zingarone, Guappecarto

The Guappecarto guys are charming as hell and play with a passion that translates emotion into sound in a direct line from their hearts to ours.  I’m kind of a fan. The music can be soothing, but it’s also got an energy inspiring to action, to creation, to dance, to do SOMETHING… and a bit of dreaming of the sea, and late nights in Italy. Their passion is matched by their humor and hearing their music live is some kind of nourishment that words can’t match.

Guappecarto: Malamente, Frank et Zingarone

Back when I started this blog, one of my reasons for it was to share photos from random celebrations, which I usually send by email in a long film-strip-like montage. I forgot about this for a while, and now that I’ve learned how to create this scrolling box (html beginner that I am), I’ll start posting these.

Last night there was a party to celebrate 10 years of residence at 59 rue de Rivoli, an artist squat that opened in central Paris a decade ago and has recently become legitimate studios, owned by the city of Paris, and still housing many of the original artists from last century. It doesn’t take much of a reason to have a party with the Electrons Libres, but this one is a milestone. I didn’t shoot much, but here are some faces in the crowd.

New explorations with found objects…

If anyone in Paris has spare mannequin parts, email me!

Every day in Paris you find treasures thrown out on the street.  Yesterday it was windows and doors.

This window I borrowed from Yosuké, his friend Roman had already written “My name is” in the thick dust.  Inspired by some recent reading, I added the rest.

"Light test" with borrowed window.