SPOTLIGHT: FREDDY FABRIS

By 30th August 2016

Having found international success with his commercial photography endeavours, more recently the famed Freddy Fabris has found acclaim for his first foray into Fine Art Photography with his inaugural 'Renaissance Series'. With over 16 years of experience in the photography industry, Freddy has enjoyed a highly successful career thus far, shooting globally for both commercial and conceptual projects. He has worked with BMW, Toyota, Coca Cola, Saatchi & Saatchi, Panasonic and Levi, to name just a few. Here at Urbane, we are extremely fortunate to have a large number of prints on offer from this limited edition collection.

 

With each of his ‘Renaissance Series’ prints, Freddy’s talent and technical proficiency shine through; the detail and finish of each piece is second to none. The framing for each particular print is selected by the artist himself, to reflect the ambiguity between modern and classical traditions that are expressed in his photographs. All frames are also finished with anti-reflective, conservation grade glass.

Each scene is beautifully lit; highly stylised, but characteristic of Freddy's commercial aesthetic. His use of light, the dramatic chiaroscuro, calls to mind Caravaggio and the poses and postures are overt references to the work of other classical masters he has used as his inspiration. His portraits certainly achieve that likeness to Rembrandt's work to which he aspires (if in Edinburgh, don’t miss the chance to see Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait, 51, at the National Portrait Gallery).

The pieces are a modern interpretation of classical paintings, yes, however they offer more than just a simple re-imagining of artworks that have been reconstructed many times previously. We can read more into Freddy’s work if we want to; thinking of his still life pieces, we call to mind the works of Dutch artists, who painted flowers and food as a means to reflect the passing of time and the transience of material objects and the volatility of the economy. In the same way we wonder whether the food and fruit depicted in these pieces are supposed to reflect something of our material culture; working in commercial photography, Freddy must be aware of the impermanent nature of the work that has made him such a success? Freddy elevates the everyday to the sublime, imparting ash trays and pot noodles with a heightened sense of sophistication; more than anything, the work is fun and playful.

As much as the poses and compositions of Freddy’s pieces are highly reminiscent of the old masters’ work, the subtle intricacies of his pieces are what elevate them from merely being a simple re-imagining of a famous painting; to take The Last Supper, for example, we see some old car part hanging behind the head of our modern mechanic Christ figure, to suggest a sort of halo that identities him as such and engenders itself in the genealogy of a symbolic practice that is rooted in centuries of art historical tradition. The viewer can see through these images the endeavour of the young Fabris to aspire to the greats, but yet also to continue in the vein of his commercial successes with a style that is recognisably his.

 

This selection really does offer the chance to invest in pieces that we are confident will be the first of many successful endeavours for the artist. And though we believe Freddy's work would be suitable for almost any kind of space, why not have a look at our 'view in room' option? The Mechanic has also been hung in TANGRAM’s interior showroom for their summer soiree, where it was much admired! http://www.urbaneart.co.uk/in-your-room-Renaissance-Series-The-Last-Supper-id451. Price on applicaton.