Lugano
Gianfranco Gorgoni was born in Rome on December 24, 1941. At the age of 20 he moved to Milan to pursue his vocation: photography. He soon achieved success in the commercial and fashion fields, but his curious spirit pushed him further. In 1968 he moved to the United States to make a reportage on the artists of New York, a city that became his new creative horizon.
It was thanks to his meeting with the famous gallerist Leo Castelli that Gorgoni was introduced to the Big Apple’s artistic elite, coming into direct contact with the protagonists of the contemporary scene. At the same time, he embarked on a career as a photojournalist, which led him to travel the world documenting historical events and areas of conflict.
In 1976 he joined the prestigious Contact Press Images, working with international publications such as Time, Life, Newsweek and The New York Times. He produced reportage from high-tension places such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nicaragua, the Falkland Islands, Japan and China. During a trip to Mexico, he decided to travel to Cuba for the May 1 celebrations in 1980. It was a love affair with the island and its people, a deep connection that led him to return several times and to publish in 1985 the book “Cuba Mi Amor,” with a preface by Gabriel García Márquez and a text by Fidel Castro.
Gifted with natural charisma and an empathetic talent, Gorgoni was able to earn the trust of his subjects, capturing their authenticity. Over the course of his career, he immortalized icons of Pop Art such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring, as well as leading figures of the late 20th century including Ellsworth Kelly, Donald Judd, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Serra, and Joseph Beuys.
One of his deepest passions was land art. He closely followed artists like Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, and Walter De Maria, documenting not only the completed works but also the creative and construction processes, many of which would have been lost to time if not for his photographs, which today stand as invaluable and irreplaceable records.
Gianfranco Gorgoni passed away on September 11, 2019, at his home in New York City.
