Turk LeClair, MacDougal Street, New York City, 1958
First opened in 2015, Armani/Silos is a Milanese exhibition space housed inside a former Nestle granary. Two years later and the locale has gained quite a reputation for its effortless way of merging fashion and art – a characteristic not unlike the Italian metropolis itself. The centre’s latest show is no different, with Armani/Silos unveiling a high-style photography exhibition featuring 125 black-and-white images by American photographer Larry Fink.
Entitled “The Beats and The Vanities”, this new exhibition gathers images from Fink’s 1950s road trip with America’s beatniks and places them alongside present-day photos of Hollywood’s most famous faces during Vanity Fair’s infamously exclusive Oscars parties. Though each series might appear wildly different at first glance, Fink is quick to respond that the two projects are more alike than they let on.
Courtney B. Vance, André Leon Talley, Angela Bassett, Kimora Lee Simmons, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Russell Simmons
“Dancing in the Sand”, Ohio, 1958
“The pictures have more in common than might at first be obvious,” reveals Fink. “From two different very, very opposing levels of egotism, The Beats and The Vanities live within the same valley. Each set of participants fashions themselves to be on the top of the mountain of contribution. It is great that Armani has recognised and understood this and it is the first time both collections of images will hang in the same space.”
Giorgio Armani has been equally as vocal about his fondness for the exhibition, with the designer maintaining, “I am really pleased to be able to bring Larry Fink’s work to Milan. I find his ability to capture form and line in such a fluid way something I can really relate to as a designer… There is much that a fashion designer recognises here.”
Film fanatics will notice familiar faces in Fink’s snapshot style photos of Natalie Portman and Cuba Gooding Jr., while those preferring to romanticise mid-century Americana will enjoy a closer look at the beatnik movement made famous by Jack Kerouac in “On the Road”.
Scroll through the images below to view a selection of the images currently on display:
Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman
“Angel Lust”, New York, 1958
Turk and Robert, Monterrey, Mexico, 1958
“The Beats and The Vanities”, exhibition view
Giorgio Armani at the opening of “The Beats and The Vanities” at Armani/Silos in Milan
“The Beats and The Vanities”, exhibition view
“The Beats and The Vanities” by Larry Fink is on display at Milan’s Armani/Silos until 30 July 2017