Carla Rossi's 'Bellissima' Explores Beauty and Self-Exposure at VIN VIN Vienna

Carla Rossi's photographic series 'Bellissima,' originally conceived as a book and recently exhibited at VIN VIN in Vienna, centers on Rebecca, a model and former Miss Italia contestant. The project juxtaposes two groups of images: studio portraits of Rebecca alone, and archival photographs from the beauty pageant. In the archival works, Rossi employs grainy textures, hyper-saturated colors, and blurred shots to emphasize the grotesque, patriarchal, and Berlusconi-era ideals of beauty. The studio images offer a softer, more intimate atmosphere, yet the artist's mediation remains visible through shadows of equipment and hands adjusting Rebecca's pose. Rossi, who comes from the fashion industry, uses the visual grammar of fashion photography to critique beauty standards. The series references Boris Groys's concept of narcissism as an active act of self-exposure, suggesting that Rebecca's performance of beauty is both a submission to and a reconfiguration of conventional expectations. The exhibition has recently concluded.