JAMES BARNOR at MASI Lugano (Switzerland)

MASI Lugano in collaboration with Serpentine, London, presents the largest retrospective ever devoted to the photographer James Barnor. Throughout his lengthy career, spanning six decades and two continents, Barnor has been an extraordinary visual witness to the social and political changes of his time – from the independence of Ghana to the African diaspora and the lives of London's African community. Easily navigating different places, cultures and genres – from photojournalism to social documentary, studio portraiture and fashion and lifestyle work – the British-Ghanaian photographer has always stood out for his resolutely modern outlook and pioneering approach. Although he has influenced generations of photographers in Africa and the rest of the world, his work has only recently been rediscovered and celebrated.

“James Barnor: Accra/London – A Retrospective” presents a selection of over 200 works from Barnor's vast personal archive, including numerous previously unpublished images. In addition to vintage photographs, reprints and original documents, the show also presents magazine covers and record sleeves, and focuses in particular on the decades 1950-1980. It is structured around key groups of works and periods in Barnor's career – from his early days in Accra to his time in London – and unfolds chronologically through the historical rooms of Palazzo Reali.

The exhibition also includes a video by Campbell Addy of Barnor introducing his work, and another in which he explains his photographic technique.

After being presented at the Serpentine Galleries in London in 2021 and MASI Lugano, the show will travel to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Spring 2023) with the aim of raising the profile of a photographer whose work has had a major artistic and social impact.

This major exhibition opens MASI Lugano’s 2022 exhibition programme with a confirmation of its ongoing attention to contemporary and historical photography, cultivated in Lugano for almost half a century.

13 March - 31 July 2022

Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana

MASI | Palazzo Reali Via Canova 10, Lugano