Luigi Ghirri's First Major Retrospective Outside Italy Opens at Jeu de Paume

The Jeu de Paume in Paris is hosting 'Luigi Ghirri. Cartes et territoires', the first major retrospective of the Italian photographer (1943–1992) outside Italy since his death. Curated by James Lingwood, the exhibition focuses on Ghirri's early work from 1970 to 1979, a period less studied than his later collective projects like 'Viaggio in Italia' (1984) and 'Esplorazioni sulla via Emilia' (1986). It revisits the structure of his first monograph 'Vera fotografia' (1979) by Carlo Arturo Quintavalle and Massimo Mussini, dividing the work into fifteen series. These series explore the relationship between photography as a map and reality as a territory, addressing the proliferation of images in modern life. Ghirri, a color photographer in an era dominated by black-and-white, approached this phenomenon with critical curiosity rather than moralism. The exhibition is co-produced with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Museum Folkwang in Essen. It runs until June 2, 2019.