Witness: The Expanding Worlds of Manuello Paganelli, opens Friday, April 4th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts with a reception from 5-7 pm. A photographer’s walkthrough will be held Saturday, April 12th, from 2-3pm. Both events are free and open to the public.
This dynamic installation provides new perspectives into Mr. Paganelli’s expansive body of work by exploring six distinct geographic regions, bringing together narratives of influence, innovation and humanity from 40 years of his work.
Manuello Paganelli grew up in Santo Domingo, Italy and Puerto Rico. After a mentorship with Ansel Adams, he worked as a photojournalist at the Chattanooga Times. In 1989, he began to explore Cuba, its land, its people, and its complex relationship with the United States. In 1995, he had the first solo photo show of his work on Cuba, and that same year earned him a fellowship grant.
The Washington Post wrote, “Manuello Paganelli’s Cuban photographs are a brilliant window on a land and people too long hidden from North American eyes. Working in the tradition of Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank, Paganelli brings an artist’s eyes and a native son’s sensibility to his superb photographs.” In the early 1990s, Paganelli started work on his Black Cowboys series with a selection being featured at the Annenberg Space for Photography. In the summer of 2012, this same series was selected for the Photo Vernissage at the Manage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Paganelli’s award-winning work has graced the covers and pages of many well-known magazines including Bloomberg Business Week, Forbes, LIFE, Newsweek, Men’s Journal, People, Time, Reader’s Digest, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and many more. He was Ansel Adams last student before death in 1984.
Paganelli’s fine arts work is represented by the iconic Weston Gallery in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Obscura Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He lives in Carmel and in Los Angeles.
Pictured: “Hands of Freedom #3” – Manuello Paganelli
