Entre L’Art et La Mode, Musee Des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle, Switzerland

This exhibition was a photography collector’s dream. So many big names. So many classic images. Works from 75 photographers. Some of the names that caught my eye, included László Moholy-Nagy, Walker Evans, Leni Riefenstahl, Ralph Gibson, and Berenice Abbott. There are too many amazing names to mention, but I will try to share a few more throughout this post.

The Collection

Entre L’Art et La Mode (Between Art and Fashion) features a private collection belonging to Carla Sozzani. During the 1980s she was editor of Italian Vogue, and American Vogue and then launched Italian Elle. She then went on to open her own gallery (Galleria Carla Sozzani) in Milan, Italy and most recently a sister gallery in Seoul, South Korea. Her background in fashion shines through in her collection and many works typify classic 1980s and 1990s fashion shoots from the likes of Herb Ritts, Helmut Newtown, Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, and Sheila Metzner.

Covering 40 years of collecting, the works were displayed over two levels of the gallery, with the majority of works in black and white. Whilst fashion photographers featured heavily, there were many other amazing images from non-fashion photographers spanning the 20th century.

Rather than display the photographs chronologically, the works were grouped together in small clusters ranging from three to six, with similar themes.

This step!

This is the entrance to the exhibition. I tripped down the step, not once but twice! No major injury and to the gallery’s defence, it is very well defined with non-slip arrow-shaped tape. While I was in the gallery I heard two or three other visitors take a little trip on this step. It definitely woke me up and out of my summer afternoon mindset, that’s for sure.

Labels and numbering

I like the artist’s name on the floor. I thought this was very effective (possibly also cost-effective) and the walls were free of distracting labels. Plus it also created somewhat of a visual barrier for touching distance. If visitors required more information (title, date, type…) a quick look at the room brochure helped. However, the works were not hung sequentially (see the image below, Edward Curtis, 19, 27), which made for a little searching in the room brochure.

Halfway point

I know sometimes you’ve got to work with what you’ve got, especially in older buildings, but I was a little confused when I got to the stairs at the halfway point in the exhibition. Did the exhibition continue on? What was upstairs? Other than the label for the fire escape there were no other labels suggesting the exhibition continued…

And luckily (for me and everyone in the gallery) I left my kids and the pram at home because I would’ve needed to go back to the entrance and use the lift to continue on with the exhibition.

All in all, a nicely curated show of a large and diverse collection. I really enjoyed this exhibition and it set the scene for the other three (yes, three!) photography exhibitions at the Musee Des Beaux-Arts Le Locle.

There is more information about the exhibition on the museum website, it runs until 15 October 2017.