FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SWITZERLAND, A MUSEUM, THE MUSEE DE L'ELYSEE, WILL PRESENT AN EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO THE EXCEPTIONAL OEUVRE OF SALLY MANN. OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS HER BODY OF WORK HAS EARNED HER A DESERVEDLY INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION. SINCE THE 1970s THIS AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER HAS BEN DEALING WITH THE TROUBLING THEMES OF INTIMACY AND THE INEXORABLE PASSAGE OF TIME. SALLY MANN'S WORK IS CENTERED ON PORTRAITS OF HER CHILDREN, AS SHE OBSERVED THEM CLOSELY AND WITH GREAT HONESTY AS THEY GREW INTO YOUNG ADULTS. THE PORTRAITS ARE COMPLEMENTED BY LANDSCAPES, REVEALING STRANGELY TIMELESS PLACES CHARACTERIZED BY AN EXUBERANT NATURE SEEMINGLY CHARGED WITH SYMBOLISM.
MANN'S WORK IS CONCERNED WITH THE EXPLORATION OF THEMES THAT ARE BOTH PERSONAL AND UNIVERSAL: CHILDHOOD, MEMORY, MORTALITY. THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF HER THREE CHILDREN, GATHERED TOGETHER IN 1992 FOR THE BOOK IMMEDIATE FAMILY, SPARKED IMMEDIATE CONTROVERSY, WHILE PROPELLING THE ARTIST TO THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY SCENE. THE MOST RECENT WORKS, WHICH IS THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE EXHIBITION, THOSE MADE FROM 2000, DEAL POIGNANTLY WITH VULNERABILITY, OLD AGE, DEATH AND DECAY. FRAGILITY IS ALSO REFLECTED IN THE TIGHTLY CROPPED PORTRAITS OF THE CHILDREN, EMMETT, JESSIE AND VIRGINIA, NOW YOUNG ADULTS, AND THE LARGE FORMAT INVITES CONTEMPLATIVE SCRUTINY. THROUGH GLASS NEGATIVES AND WET COLLODION METHODS, MANN ONCE AGAIN QUESTIONS MEMORY AND THE EPHEMERALITY OF LIFE OR AS SHE HERSELF PUTS IT IN A PHRASE THAT COULD BE EITHER A DECLARATION OR A QUESTION: 'WHAT REMAINS'.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.elysee.ch
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