Sam Taylor-Wood

On Thursday 19 November at 6.30 pm, the Fondazione Prada will present an exhibition dedicated to the English artist Sam Taylor-Wood (b. London 1967), one of the most widely discussed and intriguing exponents of ?YBA- Young British Art?, the most vital and resounding tendency in contemporary art of this decade. Born on the ? Freeze? exhibition, which was put together by a group of very young artists from London in 1988, and by now a part of the history of contemporary art, the ?YBAYoung British Art? group includes about 20 British artists, including Sam Taylor- Wood, who operate in diverse artistic styles yet share a radical and non-conformist spirit. The so-called ?Freeze Generation? has marked the beginning of an intense and enthusiastic period of contemporary English art. Which has forcefully imposed itself on the international scene.
The presentation, designed by Sam Taylor-Wood expressly for the exhibition spaces of the Fondazione Prada, includes, the premier showing of a recent video, a series of five new large format photographic works and an amazing video installation.
The video ?Histeria? (1997,8?) is dedicated to a female figure who is experiencing a violent emotional state, which the absence of sound and the slowmotion of the film make impossible to distinguish as uncontrollable laughter or torrential sobbing: two conditions which represent, according to the artist, alterations of the soul, ritualized emotions which tend to overlap, expressing the same pain and lack of control.
The new series, ?Soliloquy? (1998), is represented by five large format photograpich works, casting the central figure in the upper part of the representation, with a sequence of smaller images located below. The title harks back to the soliloquy of the Shakespearean actor, who during the more complex scenes, addresses the public to explain what is happening within his soul. There is a more immediate reference in terms of iconography to 14th and 15th century painting, with the visual separation of the cycles of celestial affairs in the upper part of the rapresentation, and the earthly events below in the predella.