JAZZ RAINBOW EXHIBITION - JLP 50th Jazz Festival 2010

Original press release june 2010

Marco Ceruti
Multi-cultural, Multi-media

Born August 11, 1958 in Piacenza, just a few minutes away from Milan, Marco
Ceruti is nurtured by a culturally proactive family. His father was an
engineer, his mother taught French at the university. By tradition,
everyone in the family either became an engineer or an architect. And Marco
is no exception to the rule when he obtains a diploma in architecture from
the prestigious Milan «Polytechnico», created in France and in Italy by a
certain French Emperor, Napoleon.

From his Canadian uncle Jack, he inherits a natural talent for drawing. To
this day, Jack the artist, whom he considers much like a second father,
still guides the strokes of his brush. Ever since he was a child, Marco
drew and painted with the same gestures and held his pencil much like his
formidable relative. Out of mimetism or just genetic inheritance ?

At the early age of 20, Marco begins a successful carreer in comic strips
and goes on to work in advertising with some of the greatest names in the
business (Publicis, Satchi&Satchi, McCann Eriksson, Ted Bates, Ogilvy, Leo
Burnett, Young & Rubicam, JWT…). Avant-garde : in 1982, he takes a serious
interest in digital imagery. At the time, this technology was almost
exclusively government-oriented, except for a company like Quantel, which
was just introducing it to broader commercial audience.

Was it luck, was it destiny ? Nevertheless, that is how Marco was born as a
multimedia artist, working easily with numeric photography, video and music
alike. The multi-sensorial aspect of his work is striking. He starts off
with a picture, retaining a certain array of colors, which he enhances and
pushes to extremes. This process enables him to reveal colors that would
most likely have remained hidden right there in the picture, desperately
invisible.

An attraction for color, an infatuation for their vitality. The vibrance of
Marco’s work was surely nestled in his memories of Southern America, where
he lived for many years. In these warm countries, the environment in itself
bathes in colors that mark the landscapes and the people. «Under the
influence» of color, the artist thus decides to render images all their
force, mixing very different tones and undertones to the point of contr-
«addiction»... as a dare, without fear nor hesitation.

This year, Marco will exhibit a his work at the Hôtel Juana – Juan les Pins,
in parallel to the 50th edition of world-renowned «Jazz à Juan» Jazz
Festival.

He lives between Milan et Antibes, where his gallery will soon enrich the
old town. A large part of Marco’s family used to live there and he is has
grown attached to the antique city by the sea. Why ? Because Antibes
nourishes great duality. Both touristy and mythologic, the city has faces
of day and night. «Between its walls, there something both profane and
divine, when the night falls and the Gods mingle with men.»

Yes, night time fascinates him. For many years, he used to play guitar in a
Jazz band ; for many years he lived the night. A world of opposites, with
its dissonant secrets, roaring indiscretions, where intimacy emphasizes
sounds and colors. A nightly atmosphere permeates his work with bright and
hushed contrasts, blue and dark then, all the sudden bursting with light
and happiness... All that Jazz !

Especially for the exhibit, a book will be available, in limited edition :
«Reflections on a Golden Horn», a story with no words, a unique comic strip
in tribute to Italian jazzman Gianni Basso, who left us in 2009.


KEY MOMENTS.
2008
Buenos Aires. Exhibition of digital engravings at the Expo Arte Moderna de
Mar del Plata.

2007
Brasilia. Creation and direction of animated pictures, of posters and DVD
cover of the movie « BEM VIGIADO », by Santiago Dellape, First Prize at the
Florianopolis Film Festival in 2008, as well as the documentary AS MARGENS.
Milan. Works shown at the Rino Carraro Galery of Fine Arts.

2004
Buenos Aires. « ILHA DO BANANAL» : illustration of the book and exhibition
of the work on occasion the United Nations Congres on Climate. This exhibit
travelled all through 2005 from San Pablo to the Brazilian Parliament,
Washington D.C., Chicago...
Shanghai. Illustrations for the Shanghai Jazz Festival.
Milan. Exhibit of new digital engravins at the Spazio Hoepli.
2003
Locarno. Presentation of a comic strip novel at the Locarno Film Festival,
along the theme «MOVIES AND JAZZ».
2002
Milan. « SILENCES VOL.1 » EXHIBIT - paintings, engravins and illustrations
at the ASAP OPOS.
1995
Milan. « LE MONDE DU FUTUR/ LE FUTUR DU MONDE » EXHIBIT at the Palazzo
Bagatti-Valsecchi.
1992
Milan. « SORD/NUD » EXHIBIT at the Palazzo Sormani.

1984
Milan. « ORWELL 1984 »EXHIBIT at the Palazzo Sormani.


Marco Ceruti
54 Rue du Haut-Castelet
06600 Antibes - France
Cell. +33(0)6 84 22 13 36
marco@marcoceruti.com
www.marcoceruti.com