Oliviero Toscani turns 80 and Milan celebrates him with a (surprise) exhibition spread across the city
Oliviero Toscani turns 80 and Milan celebrates him with a (surprise) exhibition spread across the city
Over 150 photographs, taken over a sixty-year career, to celebrate the artist who changed the world of communication with his campaigns - Photo gallery
Milan, February 28 2022 - Oliviero Toscani turns 80 today and to best celebrate this anniversary a sui generis exhibition has been organised: not an exhibition in a gallery or a museum, but a widespread exhibition throughout Milan, the city where the famous photographer was born in 1942. Over 150 photographs appeared this morning on the supports made available by the Municipality of Milan and on the large walls of Urban Vision and will be visible until tomorrow.
"Oliviero Toscani has marked the history of advertising communication in our country in a unique way – says the Councilor for Culture Tommaso Sacchi – bringing into the campaigns of a lifetime not only the beauty of his shots and the richness of his creative thought, but also instances social issues, collective dramas, the fight against injustice and universal themes, each time arousing both amazement and reflection. The city wants to celebrate him today for his 80th birthday, with this surprise exhibition of his most iconic photographs scattered around the city. birthday, Oliviero, and thank you for speaking to the world from your Milan!".
War, racism, homophobia, AIDS, death penalty: Oliviero Toscani has always stood out for having been able to use newspapers and advertising to talk about the world's problems, changing the concept of advertising communication. So on Toscani's birthday, anyone in the city will be able to see his most famous photographs, but also the lesser-known shots. This exhibition was a surprise for Toscani himself, who saw it for the first time this morning traveling through Milan with a special bus full of friends and his photographs. "We are proud to have contributed to creating this unprecedented exhibition to celebrate Oliviero Toscani and celebrate his 80th birthday with him. He is a revolutionary artist, who with his shots has been able to capture the cultural expression of our time like no one else. Being able to show his photographs on our LED walls, sharing them with the city of Milan and with the Oliviero himself, it's a great emotion" says Gianluca De Marchi, CEO and founder of Urban vision, which is the exceptional media partner of the project, which sees the support of Manifatture Sigaro Toscano, Mercato Centrale, Printable and Giannoni&Santoni.
BIOGRAPHY
Oliviero Toscani, son of the first photojournalist of the Corriere della Sera, was born in Milan in 1942 and studied photography and graphics at the Zurich University of the Arts from 1961 to 1965. Known internationally as the creative force behind the most famous newspapers and brands of the world, creator of corporate images and advertising campaigns over the years for Esprit, Chanel, Robe di Kappa, Fiorucci, Prenatal, Jesus, Inter, SNAI, Toyota, Ministry of Labor, Health, Artemide, Woolworth and others.
Among the latest projects: the collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Health, with the Calabria Region, with the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, and some campaigns of interest and social commitment dedicated to road safety, anorexia, violence against women, and against stray animals.
As a fashion photographer he has collaborated and still collaborates for newspapers such as Elle, Vogue, GQ, Harper's bazaar, Esquire, Stern, Liberation and many others in editions all over the world.
From 1982 to 2000, he created the image, identity, communication strategy and online presence of United colors of Benetton, transforming it into one of the best-known brands in the world. In 1990 he created and directed Colors, the first global newspaper in the world, and in 1993 he conceived and directed Fabrica, a research center for creativity in modern communication.
From 1999 to 2000 he was creative director of the monthly magazine Talk Miramax in New York directed by Tina Brown. Toscani was one of the founders of the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture, taught visual communication at various universities and wrote several books on communication. After six decades of photographic, editorial, advertising, film and television innovation, he is now interested in communication creativity applied to various media, producing, with his studio, editorial projects, books, television programs, exhibitions and expositions.
Since 2007 Oliviero Toscani has started Razza Umana, a photography and video project on different human morphologies and conditions, to represent all the expressions, physical, somatic, social and cultural characteristics of humanity, touching more than 100 Italian municipalities, the State of Israel , Palestine, Japan and for the United Nations, Guatemala. For almost thirty years he has been involved in the New Italian Landscape project, against the degradation of Italy.
Toscani's work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the Milan Triennale and in modern and contemporary art museums around the world. He has won numerous awards such as four Golden Lions, UNESCO Grand Prix, twice Grand Affichage Prize, and numerous awards from Art Directors Clubs around the world. He was the winner of the Creative hero award from Saatchi & Saatchi. The Academy of Fine Arts of Urbino awarded him the Il Sogno di Piero prize and he received the title of Honorary Academician from the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence. Oliviero Toscani is an honorary member of the Leonardo Committee and of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Updated: 02/03/2022