From 16 October to 3 January 2021, the Department of Cultural Affairs presents an exhibition of filmed portraits made in Monaco: a thrilling challenge during a pandemicFrom Friday 16 October 2020 to Sunday 3 January 2021, Quai Antoine Ier - Salle d'Exposition
The idea for this exhibition, organised under the curatorship of Björn Dahlström, first appeared in an unusual context as the Principality emerged from lockdown.
In it, artist Charles Fréger shines a light on Monaco and some of the different groups and communities that make up the country's identity. Workers, athletes, Palace guards, schoolchildren and artists were filmed at a time when social distancing had become the norm. The artist chose to use the medium of moving images, creating a more "sensual" feeling of proximity between model and viewer.
In the early 2000s, Charles Fréger began working on a project entitled "Uniform and photographic portraits", travelling the world to produce a considerable collection of images reflecting the secular history of the portrait. His interest is drawn to clothing, uniforms, apparel, and how, through them, the individual represents the group, the community. His modus operandi is precise and inflexible: the uniformity of the poses, the framing, the light, the frontal aspect. Paradoxically, it is the constraints imposed by the photographer himself that most reveal the peculiarities of his subject, photographed in serial fashion.
For Monaco, Charles Fréger has produced a set of portraits, of diverse identities, that embody the country. Looking beyond the imagery more usually associated with the Principality, the artist chose to focus his gaze on groups, some of the famous, like the Palace Guards, others less so, such as sports clubs and associations, or communities of workers, all essential to the life of the country, but less visible, such as construction workers or road workers.
Meanwhile, the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic is a powerful presence. Masks - a bulwark against signs of individuality - and the heightened need to restore a closer relationship with his models led Charles Fréger to focus on filmed portraits rather than still photography. Moving images and sound lend the ensemble an even more acute sense of promiscuity and sensuality.
Salle d’Exposition - 4, Quai Antoine 1er - 98000 Monaco
From Tuesday to Sunday, from 1 pm to 7 pm. - Tel.: +37798 98 83 03 -
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