Franco Fontana, one of the most outstanding masters of contemporary art photography.
Fontana's style was shaped in the late 1960s under the influence of Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. In that his teachers were his older contemporaries, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Ed Reinhardt. Fontana's work with its focus on form and color was quite different from the classical black-and-white art photography that was predominant at that time.
Fontana had more than 400 personal exhibitions and took part in group shows including those held at the European House of Photography (Paris), The National Museum of Fine Arts (Buenos Aires),
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Centre of Photography Scavi Scaligeri (Verona), Palazzo Reale (Milan).
The artist has collaborated with Time, Life, Vogue USA, Vogue France, Venerd Di Repubblica, Sette Del Corriere Della Sera, Panorama, Class, Frankfurter Allgemeine and worked numerously for advertisement campaigns of brands like Fiat, Volkswagen, Sony, Volvo, Canon, Kodak, Snam, Robe Di Kappa, MaxMara.
His work is in more than 50 museums in the world, including Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film (Rochester), Ludwig Museum (Cologne), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Museum of Modern Art (Paris), The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Galleria d’Arte Moderna - Torino, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston-Texas - USA, Deutch Bank, Banca Unicredit, Italia, UBS Unione Banche Svizzere, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes- Buenos Aires, Muscadelle Museum of Art - Williamsburg, USA, Mus e WWestlicht, Vienna, IVAM, Museo Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Valencia, Mus e de l’Elys e, Losanna, Maxxi, Roma, Macro, Roma.
Awards
1974 Colonia Photokina di Colonia , Kodak Photobucpreis - Baden Wurttemberg
1983 Stoccarda Prix 1983 - Farbfoto Kalender
1984 Modena XXVIII Ragno d’Oro - UNESCO award in Arts
1989 Roma Premio della Cultura - Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri.
1990 Tokyo Photographic Society of Japan - The 150 Years of Photography Photographer Award
1991 Gorizia Premio Friuli Venezia Giulia
1992 Venezia Premio fotografico Citt di Venezia
1993 Sorrento Premio Citt di Sorrento per la fotografia
1993 Cordoba Premio Guitarra 1993
1994 Pisa Premio Pisa per la Fotografia per il 650 anniversario della fondazione dell’Ateneo pisano
1995 Torino Premio FIAF - nomina di Maestro Fotografo Italiano per la sua attivit a favore della
fotografia e della FIAF
1995 Spilimbergo Premio “Friuli Venezia Giulia per la fotografia”
1998 Benevento Premio “Una vita per la fotografia”
2000 Vignola Premio “Ciliegia d’oro”
Modena Riceve l’onorificenza di Commendatore per meriti artistici della Repubblica
2006 Torino Laurea Magistrale ad Honorem dal Consiglio della Facolt di architettura del Politecnico
di Torino in Design eco compatibile
2011 Catania, med photo fest, premio mediterraneum per la fotografia
2014 Modena, Socio onorario dell’Accademia nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti di Modena
2016 Viterbo, Fondazione Caffeina Cultura
2016 Torino - Premio Gruppo del Colore
2016 Brescia - Laurea Honoris Causa in Fotografia, LABA Libera Accademia di Belle Arti.
2021 Premio Hemingway