work
Vite Parallele
| category | Photography |
| subject | Political / Social |
| tags | Artista dei Semafori, Fotografo dei Semafori, Semafori, Fine Art, Traffic Lights |
| base | 105 cm |
| height | 60 cm |
| depth | 2 cm |
| year | 2019 |
"Parallel Lives" appeared suddenly in the stormy sky. The author could only take note of its powerful message. Two small figures stand out against the gray sky. Their relationship is never explained; the author gives a different answer to every question. However, chronologically, an autobiographical thread is evident: the years spent working as a corporate consultant during the week and the years devoted to photographic exploration in his free time. Perhaps these are the "parallel lives."
Just as parallel lines run side by side. They are companions on a journey where they never meet... or maybe they do?
"Parallel Lives" was featured as the cover image for the visual exhibition "Another Perspective," which was presented during Turin Art Week at Paratissima 2022. The complete project consists of eleven photographs, one triptych, and one light installation.
It is the second "traffic light" project — the first was presented at Milan Photofestival 2020 — and the first to garner significant public attention. "Parallel Lives" also served as the cover for the solo exhibition held at the Alexander Museum Palace in Pesaro in 2023.
The following is from the project statement "Another Perspective" by curator Rosanna Accordino:
Daily busy performing acts, crossing cities, moving toward inexistent destinations, and then returning to the starting point and beginning again: this is how the stylized traffic light men, from their high vantage point, would read each person’s life.
Unable to figure out the reasons for a sometimes hurried and sometimes slow pace. They would assign the green color to pleasant actions shared by the rest of the community, and red to vices and taboos.
While yellow, often the most underestimated signal, represents choice, free will, and change.
In a play between real and imaginary, Matteo Cervone stages daily routines with common objects that, in their impartiality, highlight contemporary merits and flaws.
Publications
“Parallel Lives” has been published in the following media: Juliet Art Magazine digital November 2024; CAM Catalogue of Modern Art n.60 – Cairo Editore onpaper December 2024; L’Opinionista digital – May 2025; La Semaforica Srl monograph Signal Art & Design onpaper March 2026
Technical notes
Digital Photography
Gliclée print in Fine Art Hahnemühle paper, on Di-Bond
Unique edition – 9 total print run + 1 NFT + 2 AP
Certificates of: authenticity, edition, product, origin
AAC (Self-Certification of Contemporary Art – Ministry of Culture Italy) – ‘Fine Arts’ export procedure: on request
Just as parallel lines run side by side. They are companions on a journey where they never meet... or maybe they do?
"Parallel Lives" was featured as the cover image for the visual exhibition "Another Perspective," which was presented during Turin Art Week at Paratissima 2022. The complete project consists of eleven photographs, one triptych, and one light installation.
It is the second "traffic light" project — the first was presented at Milan Photofestival 2020 — and the first to garner significant public attention. "Parallel Lives" also served as the cover for the solo exhibition held at the Alexander Museum Palace in Pesaro in 2023.
The following is from the project statement "Another Perspective" by curator Rosanna Accordino:
Daily busy performing acts, crossing cities, moving toward inexistent destinations, and then returning to the starting point and beginning again: this is how the stylized traffic light men, from their high vantage point, would read each person’s life.
Unable to figure out the reasons for a sometimes hurried and sometimes slow pace. They would assign the green color to pleasant actions shared by the rest of the community, and red to vices and taboos.
While yellow, often the most underestimated signal, represents choice, free will, and change.
In a play between real and imaginary, Matteo Cervone stages daily routines with common objects that, in their impartiality, highlight contemporary merits and flaws.
Publications
“Parallel Lives” has been published in the following media: Juliet Art Magazine digital November 2024; CAM Catalogue of Modern Art n.60 – Cairo Editore onpaper December 2024; L’Opinionista digital – May 2025; La Semaforica Srl monograph Signal Art & Design onpaper March 2026
Technical notes
Digital Photography
Gliclée print in Fine Art Hahnemühle paper, on Di-Bond
Unique edition – 9 total print run + 1 NFT + 2 AP
Certificates of: authenticity, edition, product, origin
AAC (Self-Certification of Contemporary Art – Ministry of Culture Italy) – ‘Fine Arts’ export procedure: on request
