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july 14, 2020 - Fondazione Palazzo Magnani

True Fictions – at the edge of reality

Palazzo Magnani
Corso Garibaldi 29 – Reggio Emilia

and a group exhibition of young photographers

ATLASES, PORTRAITS AND OTHER STORIES
6 young European Photographers

Palazzo Da Mosto
Via Mari 7 – Reggio Emilia

PRODUCED BY #fotografia EUROPEA
an opportunity to resume projects, research and relationships begun during preparations for the XV edition of #fotografia EUROPEA and to accompany the public at the 2021 festival

17 October 2020 – 10 January 2021

TRUE FICTIONS – AT THE EDGE OF REALITY, the group show dedicated to staged photography, curated by Walter Guadagnini and hosted at Palazzo Magnani, and ATLASES, PORTRAITS AND OTHER STORIES, the exhibition at Palazzo da Mosto, composed of six projects selected from the open call launched at the 2020 theme festival FANTASIES: Narration, Rules, Inventions, will be shown at #fondazionepalazzomagnani in #reggioemilia from 17 October 2020 to 10 January 2021 to animate the next exhibition season devoted to photography. Both exhibitions are produced by #fotografia EUROPEA and were designed not only to create continuity with the work involved in producing the fifteenth edition of the festival, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19
emergency, but also to accompany photography enthusiasts and the public at the next edition of #fotografia EUROPEA, to be held in spring 2021.

TRUE FICTIONS – AT THE EDGE OF REALITY is the first retrospective exhibition ever held in Italy of staged photography, a genre that has revolutionised the language of photography since the 1980s and its place among the contemporary arts. The exhibition presents the most imaginative aspect of photography via the work of some of the major photographers of the last thirty years, together with experimentation that derivesfrom the invention of digital technology.

Goldfish invading rooms, icefalls in deserts, invented cities, Marilyn Monroe and Lady Di shopping together: more than fifty large-scale works illustrate how between the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, photography reached the heights of imagination and invention that were previously almost exclusively the province of cinema and painting.

The photographers in the exhibition range from precursors of the genre and great masters such as Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, James Casebere, Sandy Skoglund, Yasumasa Morimura, Laurie Simmons, David Lachapelle, to the earliest exponents, rarely seen in Italy, among them Bernard Faucon, Eileen Cowin and Bruce Charlesworth, and, finally, young, but already established figures, including Paolo Ventura, Lori Nix, Miwa Yanagi, Alison Jackson, Alekasandr Petlura, Jung Yeondoo and Jiang Pengyi: all of whom illustrate the diffusion of this approach and also its longevity.

Staged photography reveals the desire to expand not only the boundaries of photography but also our perception of the world. Photography, the realm of (presumed) objectivity, has become the realm of fantasy, invention and subjectivity, performing the last decisive evolution in its history. The camera, once considered the ‘mirror of the world’ is now a generator of dreams and deceptions, putting viewers on their guard against what they see.

The second exhibition proposed by #fondazionepalazzomagnani is ATLASES, PORTRAITS AND OTHER STORIES: 6 Young European Photographers. This group show at Palazzo da Mosto brings together the solo shows of the three winners of the open call launched by #fotografia EUROPEA 2020, which are joined by three other projects selected by the jury composed of Walter Guadagnini, artistic director of the festival; Maria Pia Bernardoni, curator of international projects at the LagosPhoto festival; and Oliva Maria Rubio, an independent curator.

The decision by the artistic direction to expand the space devoted to young artists is prompted by the desire to use contemporary photography to explore the theme of fantasies and narratives at an historical moment when a focus on the future is necessary.

Alessandra Baldoni (Perugia, 1976) presents Atlas, a map of analogies for images in diptychs and triptychs; Alexia Fiasco (Paris, 1990) presents The Denial, which accompanies the public on a photographic journey to discover their origins; Francesco Merlini (Aosta, 1986) uses Valparaiso to activate a comparison between his family memories and childhood places; Manon Lanjouère (Paris, 1993) presents Laboratory of the Universe, a series of images that narrate the origin of the universe; Giaime Meloni (Cagliari, 1984) presents Das Unheimliche, a metaphor on the state of contemporary living; and Denisse Ariana Pérez (Dominican Republic, 1988) presents Albinism, Albinism II, a series that captures the beauty of young men born with albinism.

One ticket for the two exhibitions: € 10,00
Opening hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10 am – 19 pm