The Pompidou Center in Paris is presenting "The Unbearable Lightness: The 1980s," a photography and film exhibition that brings together 60 works of art by 20 different artists, including Jean-Paul Goude, Martin Parr, Ellen Carey, Sandy Skoglund and Gilles et Pierre that capture the culture and society of the period and the artists' critique of it.
Considered the apogee of Postmodernism, the 1980s is presented in this exhibit through photography and films that illustrate the contrasts and paradoxes of the decade. Irony, realism, imaginary staging, hybridization and pastiche are all techniques emblematic of the era.
With a focus mainly on the Western photographic and film scene of the decade, the works, by a list of artists that also includes Karen Knorr, David Buckland and Clegg & Guttmannn among others, reflect the geopolitical and economic order of the time when ideological differences between North and South, East and West were being pushed to the side by the globalization movement. At this time, a new generation of painter-photographers began experimenting with forms made available through technical advances such as quality color photography and the instantaneousness of Polaroid.
Ellen Carey Self-Portrait, 1987
Among the featured works are American photographer Ellen Carey's psychedelic "Self-Portraits" series (1987), created using large format Polaroids. The series incorporates psychedelic motifs and mathematical formulas while playing with light and colorization -- recording her physical appearance without exposing it.
Martin Parr The Cost of Living - Wedding Preparation, 1986
Meanwhile, British photographer Martin Parr, famous for capturing the English middle class in their everyday, ordinary lives, features in the exhibit through several photos from his "The Cost of Living" series.
Sandy Skoglund Radioactive Cats, [Chats radioactifs], 1980
Also on display is surrealist work by US photographer Sandy Skoglund who is famous for her elaborate sets that she builds and furnishes with colored objects; "Radioactive Cats" (1980) is an example.
French duo Pierre et Gilles (Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard) also create their own sets and costumes for their shoots and are known for their hand-painted photographs, retouched with acrylic, such as chromatic print "Etienne Daho" (1984).
Perhaps some of the most recognizable images in the exhibition come from film director, graphic artist, illustrator and fashion photographer Jean-Paul Goude, including his extensive work with model Grace Jones. Goude's "Grace revised and corrected" series (1978) is one of the more iconic works in "The Unbearable Lightness: The 1980s," which opens February 24 at the Centre Pompidou and runs until May 23, 2016.
For more information on the exhibition visit: https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en
Photos courtesy of ©Ellen Carey, ©Centre Pompidou / J-C.Planchet / Dist. RMN-GP © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos, ©Centre Pompidou / Dist. RMN-GP © 1980 Sandy Skoglund