21 april, 2023 – 8 october, 2023
Miles Aldridge
Virgin Mary. Supermarkets. Popcorn. Photographs 1999 - 2020
The exhibition is a major retrospective, with the author known for his eye-catching stylised photographs. Miles Aldridge’s work makes witty references to film noir, pop culture and art history. The exhibition includes more than 50 works photographed for analogue film and portraits of celebrities such as Sophie Turner, Viola Davis, Michael Fassbender and Donatella Versace.
A recurring theme in Aldridge’s work is the deceptive expectations and promises of a world based on consumer culture. The psychedelic interiors depicted in the photographs are furnished with the typical comforts of 1950s American suburbia, all of which are supposed to represent success. Shots of domestic environments are often underdrawn with bittersweetness, reflecting Aldridge’s personal childhood memories of his mother after a devastating divorce. Only rarely does the artist allow the real world to intrude on the imaginary – through his lens, even reality seems artificial.
Everything has become identical in a way. My work comes from my imagination and I believe my view of the world is far more ‘real’ than the world outside. This is my reality.
– Miles Aldridge
Born in London in 1964, the son of acclaimed illustrator and art designer Alan Aldridge, Miles’ interest in photography began at an early age when his father gave him a Nikon F camera. After studying graphic design, Aldridge worked for a while as an illustrator and music video director. He has a long-standing collaboration with Franca Sozzani, the legendary editor-in-chief of the Italian magazine Vogue.
A significant proportion of Aldridge’s portraits are in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London, while his work can also be seen in a number of other prestigious museums and collections around the world – the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum in London; the Fondation Carmignac and the Palais Galliera in Paris; the Davis Museum at Wellesley College in Massachusetts; the International Centre of Photography in New York.