Lyle Roblin's first solo exhibition - The suspended life of things - went on show on May 4, 2008 in the highly prestigious location of the "Società Umanitaria", a historical Milan institution devoted - amongst other things - to the promotion of innovative art.

The exhibition featured a collection of large-format photographic prints of abandoned factories and warehouses, most of them located in Northern Italy, whose ponderous and at the same time fragile beauty - which Lyle Roblin captures with the eye of a poet - arouses in the viewer ever-novel feelings and emotions.

The images included in the collection capture the suspended life of factories which, depite having been abandoned for decades, still display the vestiges of a life suddenly interrupted, so to speak, in mid-stride: tools hang in perfect order on a bench, a plastic plant continues to embellish an abandoned desk, a pin-up smiles from a yellowed calendar. Time - the great destroyer - has wrought havoc on the buildings and their contents, but has not managed to kill their beauty. Colours shine as vivid as ever, with a vibrant vitality that is matched by the resurgence of nature from the concrete, featured in several of the images.

Another group of pictures rely on the suggestiveness of black-and-white to convey the desperate resistance of massive industrial buildings minutes before they are taken down. The photographs convey a deeply felt sensitivity which verges on the religious, with an intensity which instantly communicates to the viewer emotions unknown before.

The large format chosen for the exhibition enhances the powerfulness of the images. The solid board on which they are mounted, the superb quality of the printing and the innovatiness of the finish make these panels unique works of art.