A great new exhibition dedicated to the work of Charles Fréger is currently taking place at the Armani/ Silos museum in Milan, Italy. Entitled Fabula, the extensive anthological endeavor documents the width and depth of the French photographer’s ongoing research – as much encyclopedic as poetic – into different communities, the individuals who make them and the dress codes they adopt in order to be part of a group.
The whole ground floor of Armani/Silos acts as a backdrop for over two hundred and fifty images, the first retrospective of such size and scope devoted to the French artist. Specimens of Fréger’s wide-spanning photographic work, from the early Water Polo swimmers series of the year 2000 to more recent images taken in 2016, such as the Mardi Gras Indians series. The display puts the different groups of images in dialogue with one other creating a visual protocol where the photographic portraits and the uniforms coexist and the emphasis is placed on the increasing theatricality of the author’s oeuvre.
The selection includes portraits of the Finnish ice-skating team (Steps), images of young Sumo wrestlers (Rikishi), a document of European armies and their uniforms (Empire), images of Sikh soldiers (Sikh Regiment of India) and Jaipur elephants (Painted Elephants), to the seminal large series of Wilder Mann, and then Yokainoshima, both dedicated to masked traditions in relation to rural life. Each community has its own code, but the driving principle behind the urge to express belonging through clothing is somehow common. Fréger’s pictures highlight such aspect.
Duration: 12 January 2018 – 24 March 2019