Non recensiti

In 1976, Gabriele Basilico was in Rimini for a project concerning the Grand Hotel. It was there that he met a number of artists performing at the Lady Godiva, the nearby nightclub. Intrigued, he took some pictures and was struck by the artists’ willingness to pose for him. Meanwhile, the revue genre was dying out, while many venues were being turned into adult movie theaters. Perhaps to bear witness to the swan song of this world, or perhaps because he was struck by the humanity of these artists (strippers, magicians and clowns), Basilico began to photograph the theaters and nightclubs around Milan. The idea was to make a book of his images, but it did not materialize and was eventually forgotten. In 2020, this box of photographs was unearthed: an unpublished work that adds a new dimension to the work of the Milanese photographer. In these black and white shots, Basilico establishes himself as a great photographer in a field that is not his own. There is no sense of melancholy in this reportage, but rather the pride, freedom and joy of a group of artists at work.