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Faces : European Portrait Photography since 1990

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FACES European Portrait Photography since 1990 is now presented in Thessaloniki. This is the first exhibition which looks back on the interesting developments which European portrait photography has experienced since 1989, after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It signals a trend in the genre whereby the individual – famous or anonymous – and his or her social and cultural identity occupy centre stage. This artistic development takes place against the background of extremely rapid changes within Europe due to globalisation, migration, the advent of the internet and economic unification: changes which have focused on the notion of ‘identity’ since 1990. The exhibition raises questions about identity, culture and history and the relationship between the subject, the observer and the photographer.

The photographers and visual artists selected for this exhibition are generally keenly aware of the continent’s rich, centuries-old tradition of portrait painting. They sometimes make deliberate reference to it or play around with historical conventions in their work. Whereas portraits have traditionally featured people of high social class or occupying important positions within society, these modern portraitists often choose to depict ordinary men and women involved in their everyday lives. However varied their work may be, its common feature is their compassionate, humanistic view of their subjects.

The typological portrait series produced by photographer and visual artist Thomas Ruff in the late eighties (part of which is shown here) played a pivotal role in the development of the genre. Ruff divested the portrait of all its externalities, turning it into a pure visual image.

Starting from this tabula rasa, countless other photographers have sought new forms and new approaches to the genre over the last twenty-five years.
The selected works, by combining artistic with social development, stand in a long European tradition of the portrayal or imagination of an individual person or a group of individuals, while also posing open questions regarding identity and artistic practices. The exhibition presents the works in the following sections: The Face as a mask, Tabula Rasa, Tradition and Innovation, The pose and the human perspective, Culture and Location, Identity within the group, Private and Public, Formal and Informal.

Participating artists: Tina Barney, Sergey Bratkov, Koos Breukel, Clegg & Guttmann, Anton Corbijn, Christian Courrèges, Denis Darzacq, Luc Delahaye, Rineke Dijkstra, Jitka Hanzlová, Alberto García-Alix, Konstantinos Ignatiadis, Stratos Kalafatis, Nikos Markou, Boris Mikhailov, Hellen van Meene, Jorge Molder, Lucia Nimcova, Adam Pańczuk, Dita Pepe, Anders Petersen, Paola De Pietri, Jorma Puranen, Thomas Ruff, Clare Strand, Beat Streuli, Thomas Struth, Juergen Teller, Ari Versluis & Ellie Uyttenbroek, Stephan Vanfleteren, Manfred Willmann

EXHIBITION
FACES European Portrait Photography since 1990
Co-production / Co-organization: BOZAR – Palais des Beaux-Arts, Nederlands Fotomuseum and Museum of Photography of Thessaloniki
From September 11th 2015 to February 28th, 2016
Museum of Photography of Thessaloniki
1. Museum of Photography Thessaloniki (Warehouse Α’, 1st floor, Port)
2. TMP annex-Army Warehouses (Dock A’, Port)
Thessaloniki
Greece
http://www.thmphoto.gr
http://www.photobiennale.gr

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