MB&F M.A.D. Gallery presents ‘The Solitude of a Machine II’
The second edition of ‘The Solitude of a Machine’, an exhibition of seven large-format prints by renowned Swiss photographer Marc Ninghetto, was hosted by the MB&F M.A.D. Gallery
The machine at the heart of this exhibition is the Japanese manga robot Grendizer, known as ‘Goldorak’ in French. While Grendizer hails from the fictional planet Fleed, Ninghetto has succeeded in taking him from the environs of the graphic novel and TV animation, transplanting him into the real world. The result is a superb collection of fine art prints that subtly manages to imbue this cult robot with a sense of otherness and estrangement on finding himself in a real-life terrestrial environment.
In order to create the artworks, Ninghetto took shots of a three-dimensional robot model. He then subtly incorporated it with photographs from his personal databank, a repository of photos taken and amassed over the years to form a rich palette of images that he can subsequently use to ‘paint’ with. He calls this technique, which he has gradually developed over his career, as ‘digital sampling’.
The resultant striking photos show Grendizer juxtaposed in numerous earthly settings. Through the deft use of shadow and light, the robot’s existences vary from subtle to asserted. ‘The Solitude II’ comprises seven photos, each in a limited edition of 18 luxury prints, with prints in three sizes: 120x84cm, 170x120cm and 214x150cm. There is also a collector box, gathering all seven images from the series plus one bonus image, limited to 18 editions.
