Behind a Little House (ABCDE), Manuel Cosentino - T.O.E. Art Market

I am interested in exploring alternative ways to present, interact with, and consume photography as a way to activate and facilitate the dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. “Behind a Little House” is an intimate participatory art project which can only be accessed through the pages of an artist's book and chooses to sacrifice dissemination (large-scale web 2.0 approach) to reclaim a physical connection with the audience. I wanted the viewer to start as an outside observer, a spectator, and then suddenly realize that they can participate - the eight (5-2-1) wall-mounted photographs lead up to the artist book where everyone is invited to contribute by drawing/writing on the last photograph sheared on each page, giving impromptu co-authors the freedom to shape the direction and the content of the artwork. Text, presentation, and the mixed-use of color and black and white are provided as hints for the viewer to the artwork’s interpretation until external contribution starts to add to the dialogue. The project - with its open-ended narrative - is purposefully left mutable, open to change and to change. Should the work be selected I will be happy to send the artist book, specifically edited for the exhibition, to accompany the photographs.

Manuel Cosentino (b.1980, Italy) studied at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Rome and specialized in motion design before moving to London where he worked as a Visual Effects Artist in the Film Industry. After contributing to several movies including Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix and Narnia Prince Caspian he decides to pursue his love for art and focus solely on photography moving back to Italy. His work has been shown at Galerie Huit during and alongside “Les Rencontres d’Arles”, France; the Florida Museum of Photographic Art, USA; the Museo Diocesano Francesco Gonzaga, Italy; the Royal Photographic Society 155th International Print Exhibition, London; NoFound Photo Fair, Paris; and the Photo Center North West, Seattle. More recently he has been invited by Franco Fontana to exhibit in “Quelli di Franco Fontana” at the Pantheon di Mirafiori a Torino, Italy. His work has been awarded internationally by several organizations and institutions including the International Photography Awards, New York; the Prix de la Photographie, Paris and the International Color Awards, London. Recently has been a Huston Center for Photography Fellowship Top 10 nominee and has received the jury’s appreciation at the International Emerging Artist Award, Dubai. Photographs from the “Behind a Little House” project have been selected for awards and exhibitions by W.M. Hunt and Nat Trotman, (Curator) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC. His work is in the permanent collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.