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october 03, 2023 - Galleria Campari

Bar Stories on camera Galleria Campari / Magnum Photos


Galleria Campari presents #barstoriesoncamera. #galleriacampari / Magnum Photos from Wednesday 4 October 2023 until Tuesday 30 April 2024 in the #galleriacampari spaces in Sesto San Giovanni, Milan.

The exhibition, curated by #galleriacampari, presents 90 photographs from the 1930s to the early 2000s recounting the history of the world of the bar through 48 images from the #galleriacampari Historical Archive and 42 shots by 24 international photographers from the Magnum Photos agency, including Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Martin Parr and Ferdinando Scianna.

Bar Stories on Camera. #galleriacampari / Magnum Photos is the first exhibition to be staged by #galleriacampari in partnership with Magnum Photos.

Split into three thematic sections – ‘Sharing Moments’, ‘Bar Campari’ and ‘The Icons’ – the exhibition features images that put together a narrative made up of stories, rituals and characters from Italy and the world. The collection of images from the #galleriacampari Archives and the shots of the great Magnum photographers give life to a narrative that explores the theme from all angles, recounted through the lens of time. From the dialogue arising between various media, supports, eras and imagery, the multifaceted vitality of the bar world over a unique historical period – one that now feels both recent and remote – is portrayed, in an exploration of its social connotations as a place of meeting, aggregation, leisure and cultural exchange, and one where Campari has been a key protagonist ever since 1860.

The first section, Sharing Moments, proposes impromptu bar scenes, with photographs from both the #galleriacampari Archives and Magnum Photos: from the ritual of coffee to that of the aperitif; from convivial situations to the solitary reading of a newspaper at a coffee table; from the notes of a cocktail to those of a jazz piano; and from luminous window signs to the lights above the bar. And then there are the protagonists of these places, both behind and in front of the counter: baristas, bartenders, musicians, waiters and patrons. The light-heartedness of leisure moments is coupled with the portrayal of salient social or historical moments that take place at the bar, in a private context that becomes a shared, collective and public space, one of passage and meeting, together with friends or even strangers.

The second section, Bar Campari, presents a series of historical shots from the #galleriacampari Archive dedicated to the Campari bars in their many forms: shots of the historic Caffè Campari from the early 1900s thus dialogue with images of neon Campari signs, branded shop windows, bars on Italian beaches or on boats in renowned holiday resorts in the 1960s that tell of a Italy’s boom years, sparkling and carefree.

The last photographic section, The Icons, features images from Magnum Photos: the world of people going about their daily lives and coming together in cafés and clubs, populated with artists, Hollywood actors such as Marilyn Monroe, while writers and personalities from the art world are portrayed while sipping their favourite cocktail, highlighting the fundamental role of cafés in cultural life. This section also includes Magnum photographers’ depictions of iconic establishments, symbols of an era, a city and an artistic movement: from Milan’s Camparino in Galleria to the bar at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

The exhibition also features a fourth section, ‘Campari Memories’, which features a large selection from #galleriacampari Archive of recipe books and cocktail compendia from the late-nineteenth century to the 2000s, as well as original objects and ephemera linked to the bar, some of which have never been exhibited before: menus, letterheads, signage, glasses, mixing tools, posters and vintage advertising objects. Some key texts in the history of mixing such as Jerry Thomas' Bartenders Guide (1887), Oscar Tschirky's 100 Famous Cocktails (1934), Harry Craddock's The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), and Frank Maier's Artistry of Mixing Drinks (1936) stand out. Finally, there is a collection of numerous studies of Campari neon signs, which enliven the well-known red of Bitter with an unexpected array of additional colours.

Galleria Campari is an evocative space but also a centre for research and cultural production that focuses its activities on what has made Milan and Italy great: art, design, the ability to create through innovation resting on the solid foundations provided by tradition.

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