(26 September, 2016) From September 29 to October 28, Photo12 Galerie in Paris (14 rue de Jardins-Saint-Pail) hosts the first retrospective exhibition on Giovanni Gastel in France with a selection of approximately 30 works that span from the 1980s until the present. It is a complete journey through the visual imaginary of one of the greatest international fashion photographers whose interest was on the female appeal. Gastel introduces the “old mix” and “criss-cross” techniques, pictorial re-elaborations and ironic still-lifes on large 20×25 Polaroid prints. He instilled a unique style that has made him a central figure in fashion photography. His images re-establish a sense of profound and constant exploration in terms of composition and technique. Gastel moves on from fashion shoots for big names such as Vanity Fair, in black and white with a classic and traditional style, to the quasi-pictorial effects achieved in the series of portraits from the mid-1990s printed on gold leaf, to the divertissements in between Dadaist and Surrealist visions, to paying homage to iconography from the Far East or the Belle Époque. The exhibition is a whirlwind of juxtapositions and references that restore the limitless visual culture of a creator of images. (Red)
