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Billingham, Richard 
ORCID: 0000-0002-6474-5656
(2003)
Work Exhibited in 'The Fourth Sex: Adolescent Extremes', Stazione Leopolda, Florence, Italy, (9 January - 9 February 2003), curated by Francesco Bonami and Raf Simons.
[Show/Exhibition]
![[img]](/7645/1/Exhibition%20Catalogue%20%27The%20Fourth%20Sex%20-%20Adolescent%20Extremes%2C%20Stazione%20Leopolda%2C%20Florence%20.jpeg)
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Exhibition Catalogue 'The Fourth Sex - Adolescent Extremes, Stazione Leopolda, Florence .jpeg - Supplemental Material Download (5kB) | Preview |
Abstract
This exhibition examined the increasing importance of teenage tribes in modern society. The show suggested that the fourth sex belongs to adolescents, a sexually indefinite stage, in which gender ambiguity prevails. Adolescents are not boys or girls and not yet men or women. They belong to a parallel, fluid universe, in a state of becoming. They are closely connected to the present, yet also contain the seeds of future. The exhibition suggested adolescence as a state of mind, an existential condition with a powerful impact on lifestyles and trends. Teenagers can be omnivorous, tireless consumers, careless, but at times attentive, easily influenced, autonomous… They often give form to their world and their culture somewhat aggressively but at the same time they are forced to come to grips with the labels, judgments and formulae of adults. Their behaviour patterns are constantly monitored, they represent a major section of consumption. Fashion pays particularly close attention to the teenage universe both as a source of inspiration and as a crucial consumer segment, while contemporary art probes, exploits and analyses the myth of the eternal adolescent. The exhibition comprised fashion imagery, art, music, cinema and the news and was accompanied by an anthology of writings that mixed poetry, literature, journalism and research, highlighting the increasing importance of teenage tribes in modern society where the inadequacy of sexual and demographic identities is reflected in sometimes violent, contradictory ways. Besides Billingham, other artists included artists such as Vanessa Beecroft, Raymond Pettibon, Mike Kelley, Andreas Gursky, Larry Clark, Jürgen Teller, Takashi Murakami and Paul McCarthy. It included fashion designers such as Comme des Garçons, Helmut Lang, Katherine Hamnett, Diesel and Benetton. There was also a series of writings by various authors including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Stefano Pistolini, James Ballard, Bret Easton Ellis and Douglas Coupland. There was a fully illustrated catalogue.
| Item Type: | Show/Exhibition |
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| Related URLs: | |
| Subjects: | N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR |
| Divisions: | Schools and Research Institutes > School of Creative Arts |
| Research Priority Areas: | Creative Practice and Theory |
| Depositing User: | Richard Billingham |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Nov 2019 15:15 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Aug 2023 09:24 |
| URI: | https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/7645 |
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