• Riccardo Previdi

C’était un rendez-vous

“C’était un rendezvous“ is the title of a breathtaking short film by the French filmmaker Claude Lelouch. It shows a 9 minutes drive at breakneck speed on a Ferrari 275 GTB early in the morning through Paris to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, where the film ends with the driver embracing a young woman. In his first solo show, Riccardo Previdi unfolds a close-knit network of associations, inquiries and stories about the film – it was forbidden in 1976, shortly after the first screening, and for years there have been speculations on the web about its authenticity and its making.

In his works Riccardo Previdi relates pop culture images with ideas and forms of Italian architecture and design, from modernism to experimental architecture of the seventies. He often sees his work as a display for other people’s productions – filmmakers, musicians, artists – offering a new point of view.

In his exhibition at Francesca Minini, Previdi investigates the different elements which contributed to the fascinating character of “C’etait un rendezvous”: romantic representations, precise calculation, enthusiasm for technology, signs of power and passion for speed are melted with the revolutionary atmosphere that characterized culture and society at the time of the film shooting.

In his main work, Previdi presents the French filmmaker’s short film as an impressive light installation. Accompanied by the original ambient sound of the film – the monotone motor noise of the Ferrari engine – the visitors follow a sort of path through the exhibition. Starting from a delicate neon installation, the tour develops through a sculptural transposition of the drive and ends up with a double picture of the sixties icon Brigitte Bardot, finding its happy ending.