Fabio Aguzzi: Isole, Cortina d'Ampezzo

The colour of the water varies incredibly from one side of the barrier reef to the other. It changes from the tenderest light blues to the deepest shades of cobalt, before turning emerald green. It is here, in these magical variations of colour, that painting stands up to photography. And it is here that Fabio Aguzzi comes peremptorily to the fore.

We already knew him as an exquisite painter. Indeed, we had "baptised" him, one might say, when he came up with his first views of Venice enshrouded in their romantic atmosphere. Then we were stunned by his myriad baskets. Always similar yet never the same, with those slightly ochre straw-coloured hues. And what about his cigarettes magnified by imagination? Or those litle toys which challenged our childish memories? Now we see him tackling the Maldives. A challenge, a lethal risk. Which he has startlingly overcome: without running away, without letting himself be carried away by the difficulties inherent in exotic landscapes.