Luciano Rigolini, Concept Car

Born in Ticino in 1950, the artist Luciano Rigolini’s interest for vernacular photography questions this particular mode of representation of the real. He carefully collects neutral images of objects or urban furniture, removed of any human presence or trace, such as the photographs made for sales or industrial documentation catalogues. With Concept Car, Luciano Rigolini deals with the theme of the car. Collected, found on Internet, presented as such, or thoroughly retouched and greatly enlarged, Luciano Rigolini’s photographs reveal an aesthetic approach filled with sculptural, pictorial, and metaphorical qualities, all the while suggesting a reflection about our ability to see and perceive.

Concept Car is an exhibition presenting four series, including Surrogates: 125 photographs, collected from the Internet, depicting spare parts of vintage cars. Surrogates will be simultaneously shown at the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris and at the Musée de l’Elysée. The catalogue, co-published by the Musée de l’Elysée and the Centre Culturel Suisse, was made possible thanks to the support from the Friends of the Musée de l’Elysée.