Gian Luca was born in Emilia in 1969. He grew up and was educated in a familiar yet creative environment. In fact, he studied and developed alongside his older brother and his parents, photographers for three generations. As an adolescent, he attended the Schaffhausen School of Photography in Switzerland, and then followed in his family’s footsteps: first as a portrait photographer and then as a fashion photographer, signing campaigns for major brands and collaborating with the main European and national fashion magazines.

Since childhood, he has used freehand drawing as an almost obsessive form of expression, astounding everyone with the quality of his works that filled any surface or space he could use.

The clash and encounter with photography were almost inevitable, at first he almost suffered it. Photography seemed not to stimulate him, although he appreciated it, but he was annoyed by the amount of technicalities that forced him to an approach that was too slow, cold, and binding for him. In short, too many rules to respect. Only growing up did he realize, perhaps thanks to his curious and somewhat rebellious nature, that photography was a very fun tool for him, as it was full of rules that he could break, so that he could use it in a more personal and creative way. But unfortunately photography was not enough to satisfy him. He could only be truly fulfilled by transforming his creative ideas into reality, in various fields, from design to art, experimenting with new materials and tools.

Noticed by Professor Vittorio Sgarbi, who brought him to exhibit at the Venice Biennale with the work “WHOMAN”, an androgynous portrait created with a new photographic technique created by himself that decomposed the subject in a seemingly disordered way but at the same time creating a very intimate and defined perceptual effect.

Then he was born again, almost as a game, as Noah Cooper who is not really an artistic name but a heteronym, that is, a new identity created precisely for the artist’s need to be able to live this new experience peacefully, purified by his professional and life path, which makes him even more free and respectful towards himself and his new audience.

Federico Contini Arte Viale G. Marconi, 48 Viareggio-Italia www.federicocontiniarte.com