A Carlo Mollino - inspired artistic exploration of attitudes to sex.
The secret passion of renowned Italian architect and designer Carlo Mollino was only revealed after he died in 1973, when more than 1,000 erotic Polaroids were discovered at his home in Turin. Shot from a low camera angle, the images depict models – usually local dancers – striking seductive and submissive poses in costumes and accessories chosen by Mollino. After printing, many of the images were airbrushed to present an idealised vision of the female form. The Polaroids were never exhibited in Mollino’s lifetime, and this very private exercise seems to have been both an exploration of art photography and a personal obsession. Now it has inspired another aficionado of female erotica – Samantha Roddick – to create her first artistic project, Hidden Within, which debuts at Michael Hoppen Gallery from Friday March 20 to Friday May 1.