Biella dedicates an exhibition to two icons: Marilyn and Coco

From May 22 to Sept. 12, 2021, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella will open the exhibition spaces of Palazzo Gromo Losa to the public for a major exhibition dedicated to two icons of the 20th century: Coco Chanel and Marilyn Monroe.

The exhibition entitled Coco + Marilyn. Biella at the center of MI-TO is curated by the Photo OP agency and is realized thanks to the support of Biver Banca, the project’s main sponsor. The exhibition brings together more than 100 shots depicting the two women taken by Canadian photographer Douglas Kirkland. With a long career in Hollywood, Kirkland is known for portraying all the biggest movie stars and working on the sets of more than 150 film productions.

Biella at the center of MI-TO is the famous phrase with which Michelangelo Pistoletto drew geographically, but also ideally and culturally the city of Biella and to which he donated the Third Paradise logo.

Already presented in Budapest and Helsinki, Coco + Marilyn thus comes to Biella, a Unesco creative city for textiles, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Chanel’s death and the 100th anniversary of the launch of Chanel N°5 perfume.

Kirkland photographed Marilyn Monroe and Coco Chanel in the early 1960s, when he worked for Look magazine. His timeless images, taken sixty years ago, offer visitors a dual journey: a journey into the cult of Hollywood stars, with the beauty of Marilyn, and a plunge into fashion history, with the timeless elegance of Coco Chanel.

The works are also an opportunity for a firsthand view of the early golden age of photography, understood as a central element of modern consumer culture and communication.

“With this new exhibition project,” said Franco Ferraris, president of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella, “we imagined to give life to a real trigger for the city of Biella, with the aim of building a quality cultural proposal able to speak about us, to tell about this territory, its riches and its potential. We are aware, in fact, that we can count not only on an exhibition project of interest, but on an entire system of cultural, historical, landscape, naturalistic and gastronomic proposals, capable of representing a destination for that proximity tourism, even beyond the large areas of Milan and Turin, which today is in fact our possible form of travel.”

The exhibition will involve the whole territory under the banner of creativity, rebirth and beauty, involving numerous organizations and associations that will collaborate on a rich calendar of side events.
The project’s historical-archival research is being conducted by the Centro Rete Biellese Archivi Tessili e Moda.
In addition, at the Culture Space, the Foundation will present Ricucire il futuro, an exhibition of sketches and clothes inspired by Chanel’s fashion values and sustainability themes created by students from ITS TAM.

Città Studi, through the work of course participants on textile and marketing issues, will then offer the Walking like a star itinerary, in which students will imagine creating a tour itinerary and wardrobe of dresses created specifically for a hypothetical summer pleasure trip by Marilyn to the Biella area.

During the duration of the exhibition, themed brunches will be offered at Palazzo Gromo Losa, featuring menus of American, French, and Biellese cuisine and flower-based recipes.

Biella dedicates an exhibition to two icons: Marilyn and Coco

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