Miles Aldridge is the world-renowned contemporary artist who became known in the mid-nineties for his photography which, stylised and glamorous, is an ode to film noir, art history, and pop culture. He has been featured in many prominent magazines for the past 20 years, and his newest exhibition Virgin Mary. Supermarkets. Popcorn. Photographs 1999 to 2020 at Fotografiska in Stockholm, encompasses his best work over the years, including the cinematic tableaus, the iconic series, Immaculée and After Catalan as well as portraits of stars like Sophie Turner, Donatella Versace and Ralph Fiennes.
The exhibition is a collaboration between the curator Nadine Barth and Exhibition Producer Johan Vikner at Fotografiska who worked closely with the artist to display his vibrant and singular style. Also presented are his notorious photographs of women that masterfully challenge society’s idealised conception of domestic bliss. His images are like film stills in their story-telling.
He crafts a world that is shiny and perfect on the outside, an exaggerated version of reality. But the undertones are dark, speaking to the human tendency to hide behind artificial gloss, especially in Western society. Bright, bold and bewitching, his work seduces and disturbs the viewer. He captures, with a slight smirk or a twinkle in the eye, the sinister and absurd details that lurk behind the scenes of the social conventions we all take part in.
Aldridge’s process is reflected in the complex results that his work achieves. He sketches his ideas in ink, or pencil to be used as storyboards. These are translated into the scrupulously detailed compositions that are the finished image. “Fiction and theatricality can be more truthful than documenting reality,” he says. Through simultaneous references to the art canon, historic and modern, Aldridge presents an idealised sense of reality, exaggerated movie magic, but ultimately cuts through to the truth: nothing is that "perfect". Although the loud colours and surreal scenes will catch your attention, it is the subtle uneasiness peaking out from between the cracks that will linger, carrying the question, ‘what is actually going on here?’
He crafts a world that is shiny and perfect on the outside, an exaggerated version of reality. But the undertones are dark, speaking to the human tendency to hide behind artificial gloss, especially in Western society. Bright, bold and bewitching, his work seduces and disturbs the viewer. He captures, with a slight smirk or a twinkle in the eye, the sinister and absurd details that lurk behind the scenes of the social conventions we all take part in.
Aldridge’s process is reflected in the complex results that his work achieves. He sketches his ideas in ink, or pencil to be used as storyboards. These are translated into the scrupulously detailed compositions that are the finished image. “Fiction and theatricality can be more truthful than documenting reality,” he says. Through simultaneous references to the art canon, historic and modern, Aldridge presents an idealised sense of reality, exaggerated movie magic, but ultimately cuts through to the truth: nothing is that "perfect". Although the loud colours and surreal scenes will catch your attention, it is the subtle uneasiness peaking out from between the cracks that will linger, carrying the question, ‘what is actually going on here?’
Miles Adridge's Virgin Mary. Supermarkets. Popcorn. Photographs 1999 to 2020 is now on view at Fotografiska in Stockholm until February 14.