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22/5/2013

Christian Tagliavini

Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris

With Queens, Jacks, Jokers and Ace, Swiss photographer Christian Tagliavini plays cards in his new series, but the artist turns the usual faces into bigger-than-life paintings, full of symbols and aesthetic effects. The title given to each of theses Carte, as he calls this series of eleven photographs inspired by the whims of fortune, keeps the mystery of their Italian name: Regina di Fiori, La Matta Rossa, L’Amante or Lo Speziale.

Originally an architect and designer, Christian Tagliavini has now fully dedicated himself to photography and like his previous series, the making of Carte took him several years to achieve. Christian Tagliavini involves himself personally in each step of the production of his works, as in a very slow and complex process, closer to craftsmanship than to a simple photo shoot, which gives a uniquely elegant and profoundly original result.

Following the important commercial and critical success of 1503, his series of portraits inspired by the Renaissance, the photographer definitely changes subject but maintains his high standards of perfection and the extreme care he gives to each detail : from the concept design, the choice of models, the hand-making of costumes and accessories, the make up and the long sittings needed to obtain a single image.

Like in his series Dame di Cartone, Tagliavini dresses up his characters in costumes made of paper and cardboard, precisely laser-cut, playing with shades of colors, thicknesses and textures to obtain a contrast between the body of the three-dimensional model and the clothing in two dimensions. The artist likes to refer to Art History and to the symbolic of the card games and Tarot. Each photograph in the series has its own style, defined by its model and many of its details refer to Art Nouveau, Cubism, paper cutting folk art or even mythology.

Through its posture, each face card brings a unique relationship between the other cards and the viewer, and takes us into a silent theater. Models stand with an intense expression on their faces while their hands break free from the paper and cardboard to call, propose, beg or question without giving us all the clues to resolve the mystery of their presence.

Losing the viewer between two and three dimensions, Christian Tagliavini offers a new perception of reality, an open gateway to imagination and illusion made possible with art and photography. Playing with scale and trompe-l’oeil, the photographer becomes a magician. He transforms his playing cards into enlarged windows, portrait paintings of characters half-flesh half-paper, both timeless and unreal.

Image: La Matta Rossa, 2012. Laserchrome prints mounted under Diasec, 110 x 82,5 cm and 160 x 120 cm, edition of 15

Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36 rue Falguière 75015 Paris
Hours:
Tue - Sat 2-6pm

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