Basilicata 1975

Franco Fontana made this photograph, Basilicata, to depict the Italian region known for its varied landscapes. It’s like someone took big swatches of paint, or maybe fabric, and stitched them together. The image shows a bold color-blocked composition of a field, where the land is split almost exactly in two, one side, a lush vibrant green, and the other, a bright, sun-drenched yellow. The land itself feels soft and velvety. This is partly down to the light, and the way it catches the slightly irregular surface of the field. I think Fontana is showing us that the landscape is always shifting and evolving, and art captures a moment in that process. There is a satisfying sense of stillness, of serene calm, but for me, the striking colors really pop! Something about this image reminds me of Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park series, where he also used landscapes, and a similarly playful approach to color, to create flat, abstract compositions. Fontana shows us that the world is full of possibilities.