The Municipality of Ravenna - Department of Culture and the MAR Art Museum of the city of Ravenna the exhibition "Oliviero Toscani. More than 50 years of magnificent failures". For the first time in an Italian museum an exhibition that traces the career of the great photographer: over 100 photographs that show the creative power and career of Oliviero Toscani through his best-known images.
For those who know the history of Toscani, they know that failure represents a perspective for the artist, to never stop and challenge every limit. The exhibition - which in total presents almost 150 photographs - revolves around a central body of images made up of 100 small-format photographs that trace the career of Toscan i. Two bodies of work that develop laterally complete and integrate the exhibition path: the “Human Race Project” and the “New York Focus”. The main body of the exhibition intends to offer a synthesis of the many areas of creativity touched by Oliviero Toscani in his life. The 70s are what see him as the creative force behind the biggest newspapers and brands around the world: Vogue, Harpe's Bazaar, GQ, Elle. And then Missoni, Valentino, Armani, Esprit, Prenatal, Chanel and above all Elio Fiorucci, the true innovator of fashion worldwide, with whom Toscani forges a strong collaboration, as well as an indissoluble friendship. In 1982, however, the meeting that changes the world of communication takes place: Toscani begins to create campaigns for Benetton , giving life to a series that is now rooted in everyone's imagination. The “United Colors Of Benetton” brand is invented, that little green rectangle that will be placed on the photographs that will shake the conscience of the world. Toscani overturns the sense of fashion photographs and with Benetton campaigns he talks about racism, world hunger, AIDS, religion, war, violence, sex, death penalty. In those years he attracted very heavy accusations, those of exploiting the problems of the world to advertise sweaters. It is the exact opposite: Toscani uses the advertising medium to talk about the problems of the world.