Ezra Pound, «With Usura», in: idem, The Cantos of Ezra Pound, New York 1995, pp. 229-230.
Paulo Nozolino in conversation with Toni Hildebrandt,
Lisbon, 27th November 2012
T.H.: In your most recent exhibition at BES Arte & Finança in Lisbon you showed a series of nine triptychs. The title makes reference to a poem from the Cantos by Ezra Pound. [1] The location is a bank, which finances photography exhibitions. Why Pound, and why in a bank?
P.N.: When this particular bank asked me to show there, nobody thought I would accept. I was always taught «to bite the hand that feeds you». I actually refused to take part in the BESPhoto award competition. The year before they financed my Far Cry, they were the sponsors for my exhibition in Serralves and they bought seven works for their collection. I had my share, I didn’t want the whole cake. Anyway, last year I got an invitation to show in the bank. So I checked out the place and it was just horrible. It was all green. The space was just a nightmare, because the logo is green, the bank is green, the dollars are green… but I thought, maybe I can paint it grey, tone it down, lower the lights. I had work from 2008 that had never been shown. Political work.
Currently people are producing non-realistic photography, very egocentric, colourful and clean, even though we are living in very rough times. So I thought, what about showing them historical events from the past (translated in triptychs) and making people look at the present in a different way.
Once I decided to make the exhibition, the title came up. I’ve been a reader of Ezra Pound for 30 years and the Cantos is a book that I really love.
