Florida's

Where beaches and palm trees shape the public image, where pink flamingos cavort in front of colorful house fronts and alligators stray into pools, Anastasia Samoylova scratches the shimmering façade of an American dream. In her photographic road trip, she shows the Sunshine State of Florida as a shimmering fantasy and subtropical dystopia, marked by its deep political divisions as well as the effects of the climate crisis. At the same time, Samoylova explores the sociocultural identity of the Swing State and shows how Florida is emblematic of the polarized present of the USA with its complex past. Her images illustrate both the urban centers with their deceptive advertising promises and luxurious real estate as well as desolate stretches of land and wild nature. They also portray the people who call Florida their home. Samoylova's photographic observations of everyday life follow on from the legendary works of American photographers such as Berenice Abbott, Robert Frank and Walker Evans, who also explored the USA visually while traveling in their day. As a contemporary photographic artist, she breathes new life into the typically American genre of road trip photography and counters the traditionally male-dominated image of America with a female perspective.

Anastasia Samoylova (born 1984, USSR) is an American artist who moves between observational photography and studio work. In her work she explores concepts such as environmentalism, consumerism and the picturesque. Her recent exhibitions include the Eastman Museum, the Chrysler Museum of Art, The Photographer's Gallery, London, Kunst Haus Wien, the HistoryMiami Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Le Locle. In 2022, Samoylova was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Award. Her work can be found in the collections of the Perez Art Museum, Miami, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, among others. Her published monographs include Floridas (Steidl, 2022) and FloodZone (Steidl, 2019).

Free admission
Event language: German
With the kind support of Amerikahaus München/Stiftung Bayerisches Amerikahaus gGmbH