Dogs portrayed as stars: here is the DIVA Dog Portraits exhibition

The right light, the perfect scenography, hair and make-up managed down to the smallest detail and a photographer behind the lens ready to capture the perfect shot: this could be the summary description of every fashion shooting, only in the case of the Turin exhibition DIVAS – Dog Portraits (from 20 April to 25 June 2023) the subjects of the images are not attractive models, but their dogs.

The project

The idea of ​​the exhibition – curated by Carla Testore – is to reveal, through images, the connection between the owner and his petin the context of their home. The result is over forty portraits made by photographer Francesco Pergolesi, which highlight the evolution of the role of the dog in the home environment, until it becomes an effective member of the family. So much so that you have the right to a proper portrait, exactly as you would for a son you are proud of on the day of his degree or First Communion.

With an original approach that uses practice of stage photography, Francis Pergolesi he portrayed the dogs inside their homes, building complex photographic sets with the aim of not just making a photo, but of building a sort of performance to portray. An event where the dog becomes for the first time the leading actor, the star, the absolute protagonist of an individual portrait. All, however, within a final image in which, indirectly, his owner also appears, reflecting himself in the details of the house in which he lives. The result is a series of singular compositions with a deliberately excessive and glossy aesthetic, for a certainly particular exhibition.

The exhibition

If the dogs of DIVAS – Dog Portraits are divas, their photos can only be exhibited in a location that reflects this royalty: also for this reason, the Villa della Regina was chosen for the exhibition, a splendid Savoy residence Unesco Heritage in the heart of the Turin hills, which overlooks over the city with gardens, viewpoints, caves, tree-lined avenues and even through the only urban vineyard in Italy. Here they will be exhibited – inside and en plein air – the portraits made by Francesco Pergolesi, and for the occasion some normally inaccessible spaces will also be open to the public, such as some rooms on the second floor and the Solinghi Pavilion.

The exhibition will be open from 20 April to 25 June 2023 from Thursday to Sunday (10am-6pm, holidays and days before holidays 10am-7pm). The entrance ticket costs 7 euros (reduced 4 euros).