TALLULAH STUDIO ART
MIA PHOTO FAIR 2024

DINA GOLDSTEIN – is known internationally for her photographic series, developed into elaborate tableaux, in which the artist, with a pop and irreverent language, moves a social critique by showing her own version of the archetypes of western mass culture. The biting works of Goldstein address change from different aspects. “In the Dollhouse” series, the artist uncovers through an ironic and edgy narrative the dark sides of the toxic dynamic of a couple’s relationship, that of Barbie and Ken, characterised by appearance and pretence. With “The Fallen Princess,” on the other hand, Goldstein demolishes the false myth of ‘they lived happily ever after’, created by Disney for the use and consumption of entire generations by recontextualising the heroines to raise awareness of the challenges of contemporary society. With ‘The Last Supper’ from the ‘God of Suburbia’ series, the change that society should have towards people in need is addressed. In her reconstruction of the religious history’s most famous dinner, the artist depicts Jesus’ apostles as belonging to a gang of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside – a place known to be among the most infamous and deprived in Canada. Instead of a banquet, we find empty beer cans and soup in plastic bowls.

The women of MAURIZIO FORCELLA (Premio Arte Cairo Editore 2023), subvert the aesthetics of appearance, deconstructing the idea of the contemporary beauty, where everything must appear perfect, polished and without cracks. In the portraits, the artist searches for imperfections that inspire creativity and innovation and recounts them through genuine faces, marked by time. Closed eyes, wrinkled faces, no winking looks, no disguised filters: these are the dreamy ladies of Forcella. Kind and free ladies who reaffirmed for all women the right to diversity. The working phase, entrusted to the so-called AI-TTI (Artificial Intelligence Text -To-Image) allows to process photographic content by intervening on characteristic aesthetic aspects, and thanks to a precise post-production work, the ultimate result is that of pictorial photography.

The reportage of KEILA GUILARTE “The thousand faces of Uganda” was made in collaboration with the association To Get There, ETS (Ente Terzo Settore) founded by Massimo Leonardelli and Piero Piazzi to help people in need. The Cuban photographer’s gaze takes us into the midst of a reality of extreme poverty and destitution, encountering at the same time the strength, hope, energy, and attachment to life of this population of great dignity. These black-and-white, poetic, and evocative shots not only show children’s unconscious gazes but they pay above all homage to the Ugandan female personality shown as women, mothers and workers of great temperament and faith.

DONATELLA IZZO – In the works “Annalisa” and “Silent Time” from the series of “No Portrait”, the artist shows the anti-portrait of woman in a society based on appearance and fashion of being perfect at all costs through selfies, filters, and social media. The real revolution is to show yourself for who you are with your own fragilities and imperfections – even from a psychological point of view. In Izzo’s works, the face of the women is partially hidden in order to emphasize the idea of imperfection that makes them unique and reveal their personalities by delving into the deepest self and going beyond the surface.