As part of a season exploring the theme of the body and its representations, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie revisits Gloria Friedmann’s Autoportrait, série n°1 (1979), which was her first artistic endeavor. This series is accompanied by a never-before-seen figurative sculpture specifically created for this exhibit.
During the late 1970s, the young German Gloria Friedmann, then a fashion model, decided to switch over to the other side of the camera and become her own model, staging herself in an intimate atmosphere. Creating performances ahead of time, not without humor or provocation, she shakes up the rules of the representation of the female body. Entering into derelict sites, she chose an empty space on the top floor, where she placed her Nikon camera on a tripod and adjusted the distance and speed.
By mixing with commonplace objects (strips of toilet paper, a plastic bucket, a fan, newspapers, eggs), she made her naked body an element of the photographic composition, which transformed into a playground of possibilities. During those clandestine days, she developed prints in her bathroom (transformed into a darkroom), spreading them out on her couch. Next, she reworked her prints with oil paint, creating a vibrant, highly colored universe. A book published by Marval Editions with texts by Philippe Dagen accompanies this exhibition.
Gloria Friedmann en chair et en os
From April 20 through June 18, 2017
Maison Européenne de la Photographie
5/7 rue de Fourcy
75004 Paris
France
