The Heart of the Matter: Graham Greene

The title, taken from one of Graham Greene’s most beautiful novels, introduces us to the author’s perspective—and to the disarmed gaze of his finest characters, who, by temperament or by circumstance, are consumed by the search for something truly worth living for.

This exhibition offers a fresh look at Graham Greene, one of the greatest Catholic writers of the 20th century, whose centenary was celebrated in 2004.
Photographs by Marta Carenzi are interwoven with particularly striking excerpts from Greene’s works, creating a path that includes both the author’s biography and a reflection on his writings.

The exhibition focuses on two main points of interest: style and characterization.

Greene’s narrative is very concrete—even unflinchingly bold—highlighting the contradictions and limitations of the human condition with an extraordinary and rare honesty.
Yet every movement of the heart, no matter how degrading or paradoxical, is welcomed and expressed—just like the objects and aspects of daily life that are usually left unspoken.
There is a kind of anatomical, journalistic precision in his prose, in which the direct intervention of God becomes a pivotal narrative moment.

In the lines of this deeply realist writer, the miraculous happens unmistakably and without mediation, not through the filter of the narrator or a religious character.
Hyperrealism and miracles—a paradox that Greene resolves by allowing the divine to slip into the crevices opened up by his meticulous and honest scrutiny of reality.
As a result, the miracle feels as believable as London rain.

Equally compelling is Greene’s approach to character development.
In his novels, there are no clear-cut “good” or “bad” characters. The difference lies elsewhere:
there are characters who are alive—disarmed in the face of their own desires, their limits, or the sudden realization of their humanity.
Disarmed before the unfolding of events.
And then there are the characters frozen in an idea, an ethical model, or a cause to defend.

The exhibition is accompanied by archival materials and Marta Carenzi’s photographs, used more for their evocative power than as captions.
The goal is not to provide a visual illustration of the stories, but to echo—through the mood of each image—the same expressive or cognitive movement that Greene explores in his writing.

THIS EXHIBITION IS AVAILABLE IN A TRAVELING FORMAT. CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS.