Following Ritratti, Torino, exhibited at the Rencontres d’Arles 2012, L’Or gris is the latest series from the young photographer Aurore Valade (b. 1981). In this series, Aurore continues her journey into visual semantics, offering viewers a different sense of history, liberated from the principle of physical causality: a couple getting to know each other playfully and passionately, a woman enjoying her freedom, the unsettling differences between twins, eternal motherhood, children pretending to be old, elixirs of life… Aurore Valade alters the laws of time, showing us pictures from our era from the vantage point of eternity.
Where does your photography come from?
Aurore Valade : I’m a photographer but I could have been a designer, a director, a filmmaker or a choreographer. Photography allows me to be all of those things at once.
When is the decisive moment for you?
A.V : There’s no decisive moment for me, but there is a decisive gesture, an instant where the attitude and the posture of the models becomes fully integrated with and even becomes an extension of the surrounding décor. I never hesitate to resort to photomontage in order to get that attitude.
What trends do you identify in your own work?
A.V : Before starting this series, I researched the iconographic representation of aging. Some of my photographs revisit classical paintings like Ghirlandaio’s An Old Mand and His Grandson, or the theme of Roman Charity. But I also took inspiration from the contemporary representation of the elderly found in stock imagery: beautiful old women with wrinkles and white hair dressed in bright colors, standing in well-lit spaces. These seniors are active, free and in love. They lead healthy lives and offer a stereotypical but positive image of aging. Some photographs in the series also allow us to address questions and current trends in society, like motherhood late in life, our relationship to water, and sub-Saharan Africa faced with an aging Europe.
What is the story behind this series?
A.V : I had my first white hair. I heard that in 2050, one in three people will be over sixty. I saw magnificent old people looking as if they were in full bloom, and young people worried about their future. I wanted to work on the themes of time and aging, most likely to dispel my own fears.
EXHIBITION
Aurore Valade: L’or gris
Curated by Maria Cristina Strati
From March 15th to April 27th 2013
Gagliardi Art System
Via Cervino 16
10155 Torino
Italy
Tel. +39.011.19700031
Fax. +39.011.19700032
Tuesday – Saturday 3.30pm to 7pm
The series will be part of Art Paris (Grand Palais) from March 28th to April 1st 2013.
REPRESENTATION
PICTURETANK – Marta Niedzwiecka www.picturetank.com
Interviewed by Séverine Morel [email protected]
