The freedom to choose

Historically, art movements have shaped the way we create, define and idealize beauty. Photographers, especially Testino, who have honed their vision in the world of fashion, excel at layering these centuries-old visual constructs to underpin something new.

Set in Venice, a city synonymous with spectacle, this exhibition locates the viewer between two parallel fantasies: the indulgent and the disciplined. We are invited into the opulent, theatrical world of Venetian Rococo through Stella Tennant, New York, American Vogue, 2006 where, John Galliano’s iconic 1998 couture gown adorning the late, blue-blooded British model is juxtaposed with the Meissen, 2019 series in which Testino‘s Still-Life portaits of historical porcelain vases (depicting Earth, Air, Fire and Water) appear to have new lives of their own. Together, these images offer a portal of escapism into a contemporary world of untamed frivolity, which offer shifting ironies of surface and depth.

Meanwhile, in subtle parallel, Testino visits the purity of Classicism in Horses (II), Urtasaray, Uzbekistan, 2023 and Vittoria Ceretti, Jaipur, Vogue Paris, 2017, where he investigates aspects of the classical ideals of symmetry and perfection. In both photographs, the subjects have the presence and dignity of classical marbles.

Grounding these two opposing movements is a wider context, the realm of Nature, as celebrated in both Rococo and Classical art. Testino‘s monumental floral panels, including London, 2019 and Tokyo, 2018-2019 (II), draw inspiration from Ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” one of the most admired genres of Japanese classical art, outstandingly created with woodblock prints. Originally designed as sliding panels and room dividers, these traditional screens were used to bring light and idealized landscapes from the world outside indoors into domestic interiors. Testino‘s contemporary interpretations employ luminous backgrounds that allow the delicate vulnerability of plants and flowers to reveal themselves. He treats these elements with his eye for elegance and the particulars of style that have distinguished his work in fashion.

Ultimately, the medium of photography has revealed itself since its nineteenth century beginnings as the supreme tool for idealization, a space where beauty, in all its fragility, can be captured for more than its own natural lifetime. Moments preserved. Testino invites us into a world traced by his signature light and eye, offering at once the contemporary impact of his art and a poignant memento mori, a reminder of the significance of art’s eternal pursuit of beauty and joy, conquering time.