CALI CLAIR-OBSCUR - Fernell Franco
In 2016, the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain presented the first European retrospective devoted to Fernell Franco, a major yet little-known figure in Colombian photography. Bringing together over 140 of the artist's photographs from 10 different series produced between 1970 and 1996, the exhibition highlights the importance of Fernell Franco's work within the rich artistic scene emerging in the early 1970s.
Fernell Franco (1942-2006) began his career in Cali as a reporter-photographer, before specializing in advertising and fashion photography. From the 1970s onwards, his personal work focused on the precariousness and urban contrasts of the city of Cali. Whether in color or black and white, his melancholy photographs of crumbling mansions, billiard halls and prostitutes are inspired by Italian neo-realism and film noir. A pioneering and experimental artist, Fernell Franco often intervenes on his prints by cropping or enhancing them with colored pencil or airbrush, thus going beyond the limits of documentary photography to create metaphorical, almost painterly works.
With over 190 illustrations and texts by Oscar Muñoz and curator María Wills Londoño, as well as an illustrated biography of the artist, the catalog published to coincide with the exhibition reveals Fernell Franco's singular and sensitive work.
Co-publication Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain + Éditions Toluca, 2016
27.5 cm x 22 cm, 296 pages, new
ISBN : 978-2-9522442-7-5
In 2016, the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain presented the first European retrospective devoted to Fernell Franco, a major yet little-known figure in Colombian photography. Bringing together over 140 of the artist's photographs from 10 different series produced between 1970 and 1996, the exhibition highlights the importance of Fernell Franco's work within the rich artistic scene emerging in the early 1970s.
Fernell Franco (1942-2006) began his career in Cali as a reporter-photographer, before specializing in advertising and fashion photography. From the 1970s onwards, his personal work focused on the precariousness and urban contrasts of the city of Cali. Whether in color or black and white, his melancholy photographs of crumbling mansions, billiard halls and prostitutes are inspired by Italian neo-realism and film noir. A pioneering and experimental artist, Fernell Franco often intervenes on his prints by cropping or enhancing them with colored pencil or airbrush, thus going beyond the limits of documentary photography to create metaphorical, almost painterly works.
With over 190 illustrations and texts by Oscar Muñoz and curator María Wills Londoño, as well as an illustrated biography of the artist, the catalog published to coincide with the exhibition reveals Fernell Franco's singular and sensitive work.
Co-publication Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain + Éditions Toluca, 2016
27.5 cm x 22 cm, 296 pages, new
ISBN : 978-2-9522442-7-5
In 2016, the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain presented the first European retrospective devoted to Fernell Franco, a major yet little-known figure in Colombian photography. Bringing together over 140 of the artist's photographs from 10 different series produced between 1970 and 1996, the exhibition highlights the importance of Fernell Franco's work within the rich artistic scene emerging in the early 1970s.
Fernell Franco (1942-2006) began his career in Cali as a reporter-photographer, before specializing in advertising and fashion photography. From the 1970s onwards, his personal work focused on the precariousness and urban contrasts of the city of Cali. Whether in color or black and white, his melancholy photographs of crumbling mansions, billiard halls and prostitutes are inspired by Italian neo-realism and film noir. A pioneering and experimental artist, Fernell Franco often intervenes on his prints by cropping or enhancing them with colored pencil or airbrush, thus going beyond the limits of documentary photography to create metaphorical, almost painterly works.
With over 190 illustrations and texts by Oscar Muñoz and curator María Wills Londoño, as well as an illustrated biography of the artist, the catalog published to coincide with the exhibition reveals Fernell Franco's singular and sensitive work.
Co-publication Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain + Éditions Toluca, 2016
27.5 cm x 22 cm, 296 pages, new
ISBN : 978-2-9522442-7-5
