Italian photographer and poet Luca Artioli introduces himself and his artwork for Epoque Hotels: "I do not know what let me cross the ocean and arrive to Miami. It has been such a rapid, uncontrolled and risky decision maybe, but I left, feeling strongly the call of the warm sea, the calm water of the bay, the blue sky and all the amazing tropical vegetation... My soul needed different colors, the winter in Milan was too grey and long, my past may be too heavy and intense, and my work needed a different window... After many books published in Italy by Mondadori and many photo exhibitions I wanted to have a base in the USA. Miami was blooming with new art galleries in the Wynwood art district and I thought it could have been interesting to become part of this new artist community. After few months I got an interview on CBS, as by chance a TV journalist saw one of my books in a Gallery. She has been so impressed that she wanted to dedicate some minutes at my story. Thank you Michelle I like to write stories with photos and poems. Sometimes the words comes before, sometimes it's the opposite but it arrives a moment when words and photos match perfectly that a story is born and a new book is done. I think everything started in the mountain where I used to escape from the city to recover energy. There, I have tried to offer a different point of view of the natural beauties, a view pointing out even the most hidden and secret aspects of the earth which is equally rich in extraordinary and unusual forms. From the landscape of the nature I later discovered the landscape of human bodies. My technique and style evolved my stories become more focused on the human condition. I published a book about India for charity purpose that later was chosen by Hermés for the Indian collection campaign in Italy. After that project I worked on "Beyond the Dark", a book about mental depression that suggests a way to escape from pain and darkness to light. My last book, "Seasons of Music" is very colored and serene. It' an interpretation of Vivaldi's four seasons in collaboration with the musicians of la Scala of Milan. My collaboration with Zadok Art Gallery started in 2009 with ArtDeconstruction, a photo exhibition that opened during the week of Art Basel. With ArtDeconstruction I tried to give to our era a new interpretation of the art deco elements that you can enjoy in Miami Beach. I captured the main features, design, lines and colors from the past and re-presented them in my own style. In a certain way I reinvented the old deco features and brought them in a new renaissance without letting them loose their original character. This year me and Frederic Letzelter the director of the Zadok Art Gallery, decided to dedicate a photo exhibition to Venice. This series of photos is inspired by English painter William Turner, that visited Venice 3 times from 1819 to 1840. I have been fascinated by how Turner used light. Translucent air and water that seems to merge one in another. Palaces and buildings that sails floating like galleons of the eternity. Turner's vision was similar to my vision of a city suspended in a timeless era where the past is confused with the future. I tried to recreate that atmosphere using all the technical aspects of my cameras such as playing with the movement, changing the length of the exposure, shutter speed... The result of this work makes unexpected photos with a strong poetic aspect. The photos are not retouched with Photoshop and what you see is the original photoshoot. The professional print on an art paper emphasizes the pictorial effect. As in the original Turner's paintings, we can recognize the buildings, bridges, squares, but every details from the architecture or the décor is on purpose out of focus to give us the impression that we are actually moving into a dreamy Venice where the gondolas carry life in a different dimension. There, we can look for a new renaissance." www.epoquehotels.com www.lucaartioli.com

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