Spitzensöckchen und Marshmallowpilze
The Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin is presenting "In Good Company," a comprehensive exhibition of over 100 photographs by Swiss artist Walter Pfeiffer. Spanning from the 1970s to the present, the show is the first major institutional retrospective for the 80-year-old artist outside his home country. The works are organized thematically rather than chronologically, showcasing Pfeiffer's diverse practice including homoerotic nudes, self-portraits, fashion photography, and still lifes, many of which are being exhibited or printed for the first time.
The exhibition matters because it highlights Pfeiffer's pioneering role in developing a visual language that has become ubiquitous in contemporary photography and social media. Trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich in post-Bauhaus color theory, Pfeiffer approached photography as an amateur, creating spontaneous, flash-lit images that blend fashion, intimacy, and everyday banality. His aesthetic—now standard in fashion editorials and Instagram feeds—was considered unconventional when he began, and the show finally gives institutional recognition to an artist who anticipated today's visual culture by decades.