Maurizio Anzeri makes his portraits by sewing directly into found vintage photographs. His embroidered patterns garnish the figures like elaborate costumes. The antique appearance of the photographs is often at odds with the sharp lines and silky shimmer of the threads. Obscuring part of the photograph, Anzeri both hides and enhances certain features of the face. His precise juxtapositions transform the discard image, giving his portraits a disquieting and psychological presence.
"I see portraits as landscapes. And I explore them in order to layer them with my own maps of orientation. I have always been fascinated by Darwin's ideas of evolution. With my embroidery I invent other possible evolutionary dimension for the people pictured. I re-invent them and enmesh them into new forms of visual kinship, another way to capture reality."
~~ Maurizio Anzeri
Maurizio Anzeri was born in 1969 Loano, Italy. He lives and works in London. His embroidered portraits are currently on exhibit at A Palazzo Gallery until March 11, 2012.
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