Beyond Fashion
Mar 11 – Jun 4, 2023

Olivia Bee, Larsen, 2016 © Olivia Bee

Fashion magazines are not made to last. Every month there is a new issue with new images, new dreams to sell. One has to remember that fashion magazines produce hundreds of thousands of images to sell fashion. While flipping through these magazines, one surprising image can suddenly catch the eye. This image goes beyond the magazine whose purpose is to sell a garment and to inform potential customers. Here it is about a photographer’s vision, new aesthetics at play, a narrative that reaches far beyond fashion.

 

Anaïs Leu, Walk with Pierre Hardy, 2016 © ECAL / Anaïs Leu

Marton Perlaki, Female Torso, 2014 © Marton Perlaki

Ina Jang, A ball. The Cut / New York Magazine, 2013 © Ina Jang

Paul Jung, PJW508 Nº3946, 2015 © Paul Jung

Blommers & Schumm, Tanga Smoking, 2010 © Blommers & Schumm

At one time, the only place to see a fashion photograph was in the pages of a magazine or possibly stuck to the wall of a teenage girl’s bedroom; but things have changed, with museums holding major exhibitions, galleries and auction houses selling fashion images, and publishers constantly releasing new titles devoted to fashion photography. Removed from its original context (the magazine page), fashion photography is art’s rising star. The art world is much more accepting of fashion photography because museums have moved from high art to an all-embracing visual culture.

 

Peter Lindbergh, Milagros Schmoll, Paris, 2006 © Peter Lindbergh (Courtesy Peter Lindbergh, Paris)

Nick Knight, Past, Present & Couture, Dior, 2001 © Nick Knight

Ellen von Unwerth, Rich Bitch, Paris, 2004 © Ellen von Unwerth

Miles Aldridge, Home Works #3, 2008 © Miles Aldridge

Miles Aldridge, Vogue Italia, 2002 © Miles Aldridge / Vogue Italia

Kiki Xue, Peking Opera, 2016 © Kiki Xue

For a long time, fashion photography was seen as exclusively commercial. However, contemporary photographers don’t necessarily conceive of their work as fitting into one single category or medium. In the 21st century, boundaries between editorial work, advertising work and personal work are now blurring. Digital media have changed the way photography is reported, consumed and shared. With the explosion of street-style blogs, Instagram and Pinterest, fashion photography has become the new visual language. No longer regarded as frivolous, it has been elevated to the status of an art form.

 

Koto Bolofo, Skin Deep, 2008 © Koto Bolofo

Sølve Sundsbø, Elena in Gaultier, Numéro #91, 2007 © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

Daniel Sannwald, Garage Magazine, Fall/Winter 2014, 2014 © Daniel Sannwald

Erik Madigan, Heck Comme des Garçons, 2017 © Erik Madigan Heck

The show includes the work of the most acclaimed fashion photographers today, such as Nick Knight, Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindbergh, Miles Aldridge, Ellen von Unwerth. It will also involve photographs and films of the new generation, Blommers & Schumm, Solve Sundsbo, Daniel Sannwald, Viviane Sassen or Erik Madigan Heck, all highly talented artists who are taking the lead in the years to come. The photographers brought together in this exhibition have looked anew at the potential of fashion photography and created an imagery that goes far beyond fashion.

 

Beyond Fashion
Curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer.
March 11 – June 4, 2023 / IPFO – House of Photography, Olten, Switzerland
Visit the exhibition page >

Previous Exhibitions:

ALT.1, Hyundai Seoul, South Korea
June 17 – September 25, 2022

Xie Zilong Photography Museum, Changsha, China
March 28 – June 27, 2021

Shanghai Center of Photography, Shanghai, China
April 17 – July 25, 2020

ArtisTree, Hong Kong
January 6 – February 24, 2019

The Inner Island
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The Inner Island
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As a mise en abyme of the location of the Fondation, this exhibition explores an essential driver of creation,...
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Boros Collection / Bunker Berlin #4
May 1, 2022 – Ongoing
In the Collection's new presentation #4, the commodification of our physical beings is repeatedly and poignantly objectified. It presents...
+
World Press Photo 2023
Winners & Exhibitions Announced
Representing major events and moments overlooked by the mainstream media in 2022, the 2023 World Press Photo Contest winners...
+
FUTURES / Artists Nominated
Emerging Artists 2023
The new emerging artists selected for 2023 has been announced. The Futures platform members have selected a promising group...
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ARTPIL / Prescription .139
Cinco de Mayo
Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire. Bobby Sands dies of hunger strike in Prison. Christopher Columbus lands...
+
Sony World Photography Awards 2023
WINNERS & FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
Sony World Photography Awards is the leading competition for photographers and artists working in photography. The Awards are regarded...
+
Nicole Eisenman. What Happened
Mar 24 – Sep 10, 2023
Nicole Eisenman, What Happened surveys the entire spectrum of the artist’s three decades of work in painting and sculpture,...
+
Edition Block 1966–2022
Feb 10, 2023 – Feb 25, 2024
Since the 1960s, René Block has been a key figure in the European art world, his gallery helping to...
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