Tina Modotti is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of photography. She was an actress, photographer and revolutionary.
Born into the poorest of circumstances, she already had to contribute to the maintenance of her family at the age of twelve. At 17, she embarked from Genoa for the United States in search of a better life.
In 1923 she met the well-known photographer Edward Weston in San Francisco, who introduced her to the medium of photography. Attracted by the revolutionary mood in politics and art, she moved to Mexico with him, like many other intellectuals and artists. Her encounter with the country shaped her life: her main photographic work was created there between 1923 and 1930; she held up a mirror to the country and identified with it socially, politically and culturally.
Modotti quickly developed her own, partisan photography that advocated a fairer world. Her photographs are historical documents of inestimable value. But it does not stop at documenting social circumstances in the country: together with her circle of friends, which included Frida Kahlo, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Lotte Jacobi, Anna Seghers and Pablo Neruda, she was politically active. In 1930 she was expelled from her adopted country, to which she returned in 1939 after staying in Berlin, Moscow and Spain. In 1942, at the age of only 46, she died of a heart attack in a taxi.
The exhibition was curated by Gisela Kayser and Katharina Mouratidi.
Lender: Reinhard Schultz (Galerie Bilderwelt)
In Cooperation with: BLMK (Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst)
Supported by ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL with funds from the
