Francesca Magnani @ Consulate General of Italy in New York

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Francesca Magnani @ Consulate General of Italy in New York

October 9th, 2021 by fstop

“Antonio,” Hell’s Kitchen, (May 10, 2020) © Francesca Magnani
Antonio was walking down 10th Avenue while I was on the crosstown but on 42nd and going to catch a train. I got off and ran to catch up with him. “I’m actually a lawyer,” he said. “We are all looking for a way to make this situation a little bit more fun. So, I had this caftan and…”

Francesca Magnani: The City in Masks (La città in maschera)
October 7-November 11, 2021

“Early on in the pandemic, many New Yorkers started coordinating their face coverings with their outfits and sometimes this new mandatory and concealing accessory became a statement in itself. Though the mask was needed for a basic protective function, it gradually transformed into a more complex object with multiple functions: communicating a message; expressing one’s mood, personality, ethnicity, or community; signifying mutual respect or belonging; or indicating a political stance.

With a background in classics and anthropology, Magnani has long been interested in issues of identity and self-representation and how people live and manage their everyday challenges. She has been photographing New Yorkers in masks since the pandemic began; the project is ongoing and now numbers more than 600 images. Magnani is aware of the formidable power masks hold as artifacts that simultaneously remind us of a disease and are crucial to warding it off.”

Consulate General of Italy in New York
1917 mansion at 690 Park Avenue

Location: New York, New York City Type: Exhibition

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