Fashion Faux Pas Exhibition: Fashion at the Heart of Reality
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Today, we offer you an outing idea that will captivate fashion and photography enthusiasts. The Clémentine de la Féronnière gallery, located on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris, has just unveiled a new free exhibition dedicated to the British photographer Martin Parr. The artist’s unique and colorful vision is revealed through several prints showcasing the universe of fashion from various angles. Between commissioned shots and personal series, the Fashion Faux Parr exhibition allows visitors to discover or rediscover the kitsch and delightful identity of the renowned photographer.
Discover a kitsch and ironic universe at the Fashion Faux Parr exhibition
Martin Parr is one of those photographers whose style is recognizable among hundreds. Former president of Magnum, the artist has earned a place of honor thanks to his unique way of capturing society, blending realism and irony. His work, awarded and exhibited worldwide, led to the creation of a foundation in his name in Bristol in 2017, in addition to the publication of numerous books.
Working with images across different spectrums, between photo and video, Martin Parr has managed to create a unique style, distinguished by original frame compositions rich in vivid colors. The British photographer places the banality of our daily lives at the heart of his work, looking at it with a playful eye. Society and its vices are depicted with a perfectly mastered note of irony, in a quirky photo-documentary style, which has become his signature over the years.
The photographer captures both landscapes and their inhabitants in action, between traveling tourists and bingo games, all while maintaining a frank artistic vision that offers a blend of genres. His pop and singular gaze has notably made its mark in the fashion world, where he has reinvented advertising photography with a modern and realistic approach. The Fashion Faux Parr exhibition thus invites us to rediscover this aspect of his work.
How does Fashion Faux Parr offer a new vision of advertising photography?
Published this year, the book Fashion Faux Parr brings together three decades of fashion photos taken by Martin Parr. Today, the Clémentine de la Féronnière gallery offers us the opportunity to rediscover some of these iconic shots, in large format, during the Fashion Faux Parr exhibition. Between personal series and commissioned shots, we wander through about twenty prints, which have shifted advertising photography into another realm.
From behind the scenes of fashion weeks, product campaigns, and magazine shoots, Martin Parr reimagines fashion photography in its entirety. Subject and environment are revisited in his unique, strikingly original shots.
While catwalks are replaced by supermarket parking lots, the lens zooms in close up and from below. The usual frames of fashion photos are traded for compositions that bring us closer to reality. We discover a vision that seeks to show the body without filters, with its volumes and marks of time. Wrinkles shine under a mix of highlighter and self-tanner during the Gucci Cruise 2018, while poses with contracted silhouettes give way to slumped bodies on a Cuban beach.
The idea of glamour is also rethought, now mixing with irony and a touch of bling-bling. Lipstick marks on teeth steal the spotlight from jeweled adornments, and satin dresses, stained with cocktails, become the focus of a day spent at Ascot.
Martin Parr anchors fashion in reality, and more specifically, in his own reality. The Fashion Faux Parr exhibition presents us with living, active silhouettes in a universe blending artistic genres where boundaries become blurred. Models and passersby end up together in shots set against the backdrop of museums, gas stations, or New York fast-food joints. Reality and staging merge to bring life to advertising campaigns for prestigious houses as well as the biggest magazines, from the Sunday Times to international Vogues.
The Fashion Faux Parr exhibition enchants with its quest for reality infused with British humor, all enhanced by bold and vibrant colors that have made Martin Parr a strong figure in photography, particularly in fashion photography.
The exhibition is free and runs from March 22 to May 26 at the Clémentine de la Féronnière gallery, 51, rue Saint-Louis-en-l’île, 75004 Île Saint-Louis.
