Exhibition ‘Madrid Icono Pop’

There are no staged scenes or calculated poses. In the exhibition ‘Madrid Icono Pop’, 1964–1979, spontaneity is what rules. The exhibition, open to the public with free admission in the Sala Cristóbal Portillo (El Águila), traces the city's most human side over two key decades, through snapshots that capture fragments of real life in a vibrant style full of movement. The author of these images is Gianni Ferrari, an Italian photojournalist who naturally documented private scenes involving public figures. Here we do not see only Lola Flores or Audrey Hepburn, but people in recognisable moments: a mother telling off a child, an actress getting out of a car, a young woman leafing through magazines. It is Madrid observed from within.

Alongside the photographs, garments by designers such as Balenciaga, Pedro Rodríguez and Givenchy are exhibited, as well as original magazines, fashion sketches and audiovisual materials that help reconstruct the context of a city that was beginning to look outwards. The exhibition does not idealise: it portrays. Organised by the Subdirección General de Patrimonio Histórico and curated by Esperanza García Claver, the exhibition will be available until 21 September. Admission is free. An opportunity to discover a Madrid that existed beyond the shop window, right where personal stories began.