Francesco Gennari Autoritratto su Menta (con Camicia Bianca) / Self-portrait on Mint Syrup (with white shirt), 2011
Epson print on 100% cotton paper
27 x 37 cm (framed)
Autoritratto su Menta (con Camicia Bianca) consists of a blurry, indeterminate self-portrait. Francesco Gennari directed his camera toward a flat container filled with mint syrup, whose surface reflects the silhouette of the artist dressed in a white shirt. The blurriness is not the result of any technical issue or of the subject moving. The effect was obtained by delicately shaking the container filled with mint syrup. The trembling liquid surface—which replaces the mirror traditionally used by artists for self-representation—therefore produced an unstable reflection captured by the camera, or provokes what the artist would refer as lucky accidents: an air bubble trapped in the syrup and the reflection of a studio’s spotlight formed a stylized sun in the top right corner of the image.