Silvio Bernelli's 'Il biografo di Botto & Bruno' Blends Biography and Fiction

Silvio Bernelli's book 'Il biografo di Botto & Bruno' (Effigie, 2018) traces the artistic duo Franco Botto and Roberta Bruno from their 1985 meeting at the Accademia Albertina di Torino to their participation in the 2001 Venice Biennale curated by Harald Szeemann. The narrative, written by Bernelli—who also writes for the literary magazine Il primo amore—blurs biography and fiction, incorporating meta-literary reflections and autobiographical elements. It covers their early struggles, work as restorers, first fanzines at the Unione Culturale di Torino, collaborations with gallerist Alberto Peola, and the development of their photographic collages focusing on Turin's peripheries with political undertones. The book also mentions their difficult exhibition at Bullet Space in New York and appearance on MTV's Kitchen. Bernelli's precise, sharp prose is noted, and the work is compared to Émile Zola's 'L'Œuvre' and its relationship with Édouard Manet.