the essential
“Les Paradis Latins”, a collection of two hundred Latin American photos taken between 1910 and 2023, is exhibited at the Bemberg Foundation from June 7 to November 3.
Movie stars, political celebrities or beautiful strangers are the faces of some two hundred Latin American photographs brought together at the Bemberg Foundation, in Toulouse. The exhibition “Les Paradis Latins: South American Stars” is open to the public from June 7 to November 3 at the Hôtel d’Assézat.
These photos, collected by Leticia and Stanislas Poniatowski, come from a territory stretching from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. Taken between 1910 and 2023 by 83 different artists, they show a wide variety of styles between eras and photographers.
Divas and starlets
Divas and starlets are magnified in black and white photos from the first part of the century, in dignified or sensual poses. Some have been recolored, giving a particular atmosphere to the image. Other smaller photos, dating from the 1910s, show pretty ladies in a conventional setting and a somewhat mannered attitude. In contrast, counterculture artists play with images, pasting press clippings or assembling pieces of photographs.
On two floors in the magnificent Hôtel d’Assézat, the exhibition offers a journey through Latin America and its flamboyant personalities. We see the influence of advertising, Hollywood, tango and “tropical kitsch”, in the words of Alexis Fabry, curator of the exhibition. It is also the journey through a century of art, from classical codes to modern provocations, which is told through the photographs.
