BONAMI, Francesco and Raf SIMONS. Il Quarto Sesso: IlTerrtitorio Esremo dell’Adolescenze.The Fourth Sex: Adolescent Extremes.
(Florence, Italy): Pitti Immagine Uomo 63, 2003. First edition. Single sheet, measuring approx. 33cm by 80cm folded to 17cm by 14cm. Super rare, double-sided poster, designed by A.W. Gori, issued to accompany the exhibition at Fondazione Pitti Jan 9 to Feb 9, 2003. The 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. A very good example, folded down to image of Robbie by Willy Vanderperre.
$225.00