Yvon Lambert

Mario Testino

06 Jun - 24 Jul 2014

© Mario Testino
Lily Donaldson & Anja Rubik, Allure, New York, 2010
MARIO TESTINO
6 June - 24 July 2014

Yvon Lambert is pleased to announce its first solo show of influential photographer Mario Testino, which will be held at the gallery in Paris from June 6th to July 24th 2014. Two bodies of work will be presented: Extremes, an unprecedented edit of iconic Testino images, including never before exhibited works, and his latest acclaimed series Alta Moda.

Mario Testino built his career on discovery and transformation, constantly redefining the boundaries of fashion photography. Travelling around the world, he sharpened his eyes creating his own aesthetic. In the babel of styles and trends, Testino invented a new language which translates the meaning of the term «fashion» from one country to the next, from one decade to the next.

With Extremes, Mario Testino captivates the viewer with the extraordinary plurality of his work. Each of his images creates a world of elegance, beauty, style, and at the same time irreverence, and contradiction. He captures the interplay of mass media, celebrity, and glamour like no other, and offers a new understanding of the aesthetic of fashion photography. Anyone whom he photographs embodies the spirit of the moment. His sense of fashion has transformed many of his portraits into icons. This is why, a Testino portrait will always remain unmistakable.

The gallery will present, for the first time in Europe, Alta Moda – literally “high fashion” in Spanish – a series of portraits of Peruvians wearing traditional and festive attire from the mountainous region of Cusco. While the series appears to reference the tradition of ethnographic photography, Testino has captured several stories within each photograph.

Mario Testino has created a visual language, a true reflection of our time which is simultaneously timeless.

Mario Testino was born in Lima in 1954. In 1976, he moved to London where he works and lives.

Many exhibitions of his photography have been held in museums and galleries around the world throughout the course of his career. The National Portrait Gallery in London hosted his exhibition, Portraits, in 2002, which broke records for their highest attended exhibit. It then traveled to Milan, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Mexico City and Lima. In 2010, Testino was invited by the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid to exhibit his work, one of the few living artists to have done so. In 2012 he exhibited his work for the first time in China – at the Today Art Museum in Beijing and the Shanghai Art Museum – as well as having his first museum show in the USA at the prestigious Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In 2013, he opened his first exhibition in South Korea at the Seoul Arts Center and most recently, in 2014, his first exhibition in Buenos Aires at Malba - Fundación Costantini.

In addition to his work in the world’s greatest magazines, Mario Testino has published twelve books, including MaRio de Janeiro Testino, Kate Moss by Mario Testino, Private View and In Your Face.

Mario Testino has received many awards internationally among other recognitions for his achievements, inclu- ding the Medalha Tiradentes from the state of Rio de Janeiro. Testino, who was born in Lima, Peru, was awarded his country’s highest honor in 2010, the Grand Cross Order of Merit, presented to him by the President of Peru. In 2013, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to photography and charity.

In July 2012 Testino founded MATE - Museo Mario Testino in Lima, Peru. MATE is a not-for-profit institution established to contribute to Peru through the cultivation and promotion of culture and heritage.