BRATTLEBORO — A new photography exhibit opening this month at the Latchis Gallery pays tribute to an artist whose work offers a view into worlds both familiar and unfamiliar.
Marco Grimaldi's career was just getting started when he fell victim to COVID-19 last year.
“The pandemic caused so much tragedy but none more than the loss of this kind of talent and potential,” according to a news release. “We get a glimpse of the promise of a young life cut short, and we have to consider ourselves lucky to have this much.”
The exhibit, PoloShoots, named after Grimaldi's company, will be open during Brattleboro Gallery Walk, Friday, July 2, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the gallery, 50 Main St., Brattleboro.
A talk about the exhibit by Tom Orzechowski, photographer, videographer, and Grimaldi's business partner, will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the theater adjoining the gallery.
The exhibit is being presented by Marco's mother, Guilford resident Susan Rosano, in partnership with Latchis Arts.
“The PoloShoots Photography Exhibit is a tribute to my ingenious, imaginative son, Marco, and his creative accomplishments,” said Susan Rosano. “I am devastated at the loss of him, and my life on this earth will never be the same without him. I have been and will always be proud of him and his accomplishments with photography.”
A graduate of the Greater Hartford Academy of Arts and the Burlington College photography program, Grimaldi came into his own as a photographer when he moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he started capturing friends, neighbors, and clients in portraits.
'He openly embraced the differences'
“Marco never shunned away from the odd or weird,” Orzechowski explained. “Instead, he openly embraced the differences between people that made them unique.”
Orzechowski described Grimaldi as “a cosmic traveler, picking up experiences and people along the way that really defined what it meant to be human.”
As explained in the news release, “Grimaldi's reputation spread, his work was published in local magazines, and clients came to him with their most important projects, whether or not he was compensated; his main interest was in sharing his enthusiasm for photography which he did eagerly.”
“Looking at the stunning portraits - of humans or the night sky - the viewer comes to know the personalities and steps into their various worlds that might not ordinarily be open to us, from fashion to nature to a child at play,” the organizers of the exhibit say.
All the photographs were printed by Joshua Farr, executive director of the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro.
“One of the important roles the Latchis can play in the coming months is to help all of us examine, understand, and process the pandemic and its overwhelming impacts,” said Jon Potter, executive director of Latchis Arts. “With all our hearts, we embraced the opportunity to provide a space where Marco's work could be shown.”