At a time when technology has allowed photography of the self to become such an ordinary collective practice that it has completely changed the sense and perception of the human figure, the exhibition Flesh and Form. A Visual Journey aims to expose the portrait in its most intimate return. An invitation to the public to investigate the subtle threshold between public and private and the imaginative and anthropological possibilities of photography.
The shots collected from the private collection of the Mimmo Scognamiglio gallery focus on portraiture, but not only, and embark on a retrospective journey of the intimate relationship between the portrayer and the portrayed subject.
Glimpses that bring us to knowledge of truths never expressed or of marginalised diversities, as does Nicol Vizioli, who with her dramatic portraits stages an archaic Sardinian rite with which rain was invoked and Dionysus commemorated. The soot-blackened face of a citizen of Lula and his body covered in sheepskin become symbols of a distant and unknown world. Spencer Tunick, who has often provoked debate and questioning due to the nature of his work, which many describe as a simple social manifestation', instead unleashes the tension between the individual and the collective.
In a quieter way, Chiharu Shiota, with his self-portraits, opens up an investigation into the perception of the self in which memories of places and memories of a lived experience are crystallised in the reflected image.
On the other hand, Johnnie Shand Kydd and Nan Goldin revolutionised the concept of familiarity, transforming their subjects into a collective image that allowed subcultures and minorities to become witnesses of their own time.
Janaina Tschape, who declares how the medium of photography has enabled her to take her research with her and apply it in ever different contexts, observes the result in the rediscovery of theself and its surroundings. And then, Maddalena Ambrosio and Sedir who investigate the man/nature dialectic from two completely different points ofview, Daniel Canogar who shows us how technologies define our existence, and Andrian Tranquilli who dismantles the stereotype of the male and infallible superhero with a simple scenic gesture.
Press release courtesy Mimmo Scognamiglio Artecontemporanea.
Via Goito, 7
Milan, 20121
Italy
mimmoscognamiglio.com
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Saturday, by appointment
Closed 23 December 2023 –7 January 2024