Quinceañeras
by Frank Thiel
Frank Thiel
Quinceañeras
Exhibitions:
- Sean Kelly - New York
February 10 - March 17, 2018
- Blain | Southern - Berlin
April 28 – June 16, 2018
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
courtesy:
Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
Blain Southern, London/Berlin
Galeria Eduardo Leme, São Paulo
Krinzinger Gallery, Vienna
Installation Photography: Trevor Good
Press Release - Blain | Southern Gallery
Quinceañeras examines the tradition of the often lavish coming-of-age celebrations
around a young woman’s fifteenth birthday in Cuba.Known for extensively researched
projects that survey places in transformation, Thiel uses the quince tradition in Cuba
as a metaphor for a culture in fux, creating a portrait of a generation of young women
alongside that of a city rich in heritage yet coming to terms with change and decay.
Across Latin America, a girl’s fifteenth birthday is an important rite of passage and a
celebration of her transition into adulthood. While each country has its own traditions,
an essential part of the festivities is the idealised portrait shot by professional
photographers, which often aim to reproduce the fantasy world depicted in high-fashion
magazines. Thiel’s portraits of a generation of young women born in the year 2000 take
a different approach, showing them in a single, consistent pose, in a range of everyday
backdrops.
Working over a two-year period in close collaboration with his Cuban team and the families
of the young women, Thiel photographed them in their own neighbourhoods in Havana.
Drawn from across all fifteen municipalities of the Cuban capital, the unadorned locations
act as a counterpoint to the often nostalgic or romanticised idea of the city and the life of
its inhabitants. Thiel depicts Arlett Acosta Fajardo, for example, at a bus stop, while people
in the background wait for their local public transport. Daniela Lucrecia Márquez Rivero
stands in front an abandoned department store in Havana’s centre – the sign behind her reads
Fin de Siglo: End of the Century. Thiel creates an atmosphere that shows both the young
women and a nation in shared anticipation of an uncertain future.
Thiel’s interest in transformation is ever-present in his work, from his preoccupation with
Berlin post-reunifcation, to the glaciers of Patagonia. Quinceañeras combines several elements
that outline his artistic practice to date: architecture, the transitory moment and socio-political
realities.
www.blainsouthern.com/artists/frank-thiel
