Photography has always been used to preserve fleeting moments of childhood and to fix important family events. Many contemporary artists explore traditions of family portraiture in order to present a more revealing image of family dynamics and the emotional tone of childhood. Galleria Gottardo -- Banca del Gottardo's cultural foundation -- will present an exhibition of works from the photography and video collection of the Guggenheim Museum. Organised by Jennifer Blessing, curator at the internationally renowned Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York, it will open on 28 September and will include works by important contemporary artists such as Janine Antoni, Gregory Crewdson, Rineke Dijkstra, Anna Gaskell, Loretta Lux, Sally Mann, Robert Mapplethorpe, Catherine Opie, Thomas Struth, Gillian Wearing and others. An ongoing collaboration between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, through the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and the Galleria Gottardo in Lugano, has resulted in two exhibitions, "Il ritrovo degli artisti" (2001) and "Spiritual Landscape" (2003). The Galleria Gottardo is pleased to host a third collaborative exhibition, entitled 'Family Pictures', in its intimate and family-friendly environment. This exhibition includes a selection of images, at times provocative and ironic, that show the paradoxes of family life and what lies beneath the surface of its traditional representations.

Text in Italian and English.