QUEEN UNSEEN. Peter Hince
8th Feb. – 21st April 2024
Fondazione Luciana Matalon
Milan, January 30th 2024 – Fans and enthusiasts are already excited about the arrival in Milan, at the Luciana Matalon Foundation, in Foro Buonaparte 67, of the Lombard leg of the European tour of the event – exhibition “QUEEN UNSEEN | Peter Hince”, scheduled from 8. February to 21. April 2024, a real experiential journey into the world of the famous band to be lived through unpublished images frozen in time by those who knew QUEEN really well, living in symbiosis for over ten years. After the extraordinary success achieved in Turin, Rimini and Rome, the exhibition-event of the English group which has marked the history of rock music and which has a special relationship with the city, having performed in Italy in concert only in Milan at the Palasport, next to the stadium in 1984 (in the same year they were also guests at the Sanremo Music Festival).
“QUEEN UNSEEN | Peter Hince” is made up of over 100 photographs of Freddie Mercury’s road manager and personal assistant – Peter Hince, never previously exhibited in any European country, and some of which are an absolute international premiere, and over a hundred memorabilia , various objects and documents, all strictly original: among them are the microphone stand used by Freddie Mercury in his last concert, an autographed guitar by Brian May, the costumes used for the Radio Gaga video clip, an autographed cymbal and the Roger Taylor’s drum sticks, material coming partly from the personal collection of Niccolò Chimenti, one of the major European collectors of the Queen universe. The exhibition is completed by the screening of rare videos and clips from the band’s most famous concerts. 50 years after the release of the first album, the homonymous “Queen”, the exhibition represents an unmissable opportunity for fans to discover new aspects and details of the group and its charismatic front-man and for the general public to expand their knowledge of the band that revolutionized the music of the last 50 years and which still manages to be extraordinarily current today.
Thanks to the good fortune of having worked for one of the most famous musical hit factories of the Seventies and Eighties, Ratty – as Peter Hince was nicknamed – was able to have access, both professionally and privately, to the salient moments that distinguished the “Bohemian” band Rhapsody” which he managed to freeze in time and make eternal with his memorable shots. The association between Hince and Queen began in 1975, when the band was preparing to record “A Night at the Opera”. Peter was the person in charge of instruments and soundcheck who had to ensure that the band’s performance on stage went as planned; he soon earned the trust of Freddie, Brian, John and Roger. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of those early years, which Peter instead began taking from 1977, when the band had reached the peak of its worldwide success, until 1986. By virtue of the close personal relationship existing between Hince and Freddie Mercury the exhibition will pay particular attention to the band’s singer. Among Hince’s shots, some of the most iconic images of the singer certainly stand out, captured in the recording studio, on the set of the most broadcast music videos in the world or on the photographic one, in which Hince immortalized Freddie dressed like a true queen. Freddie, an immigrant in England in the 70s, was one of the key figures not only of the musical revolution of the second half of the 20th century, but also of the social and cultural ones, which made him one of the main and undisputed protagonists of those years glorious. And if Hince’s photographs offer us a unique insight and privileged access to the band and its front-man, Queen’s career in the exhibition is documented in detail by a rich display that also includes video material and physical objects. The exhibition, therefore, does not only represent an unprecedented photographic journey through the band’s most important moments, but a true experiential journey.
Born in Hereford, England in 1955, Peter Hince began his adventure in the world of music in 1973 as a young roadie with David Bowie. In the same year, working for Mott The Hoople, he met a little-known band, Queen, a support group on Mott’s British tour. During that period Peter continued to work with other great artists, including Mick Ronson, Lou Reed, Eno (Roxy Music), Supertramp, George Benson and Kevin Ayers, joining Queen full-time in 1975. Peter served as assistant staff of Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon, later becoming head of Queen’s road crew. During the years spent with Queen, Peter cultivated a passion for photography, managing to take intimate and sincere photos of the band in the recording studio, during the filming of video clips, tour rehearsals and, on rare occasions, even during the shows from I live. He also takes some portraits of the band, which have become iconic. Peter Hince’s archive is unique and covers not only a large period of Queen’s public career, but also contains rare behind-the-scenes images. Although he was never appointed as Queen’s official photographer, the band felt relaxed and at ease with him. “During the years with Queen I was in a privileged position and because the band trusted me and my cameras, I was able to capture these rare images. You might say I’ve been lucky, but I’ve found in life that the harder you work, the more you apply yourself, recognize and seize opportunities, the luckier you are.” After Queen’s last tour in 1986, Peter had a successful career as a publicity photographer, always continuing to photograph Freddie Mercury and the other members of the band. Peter Hince has won international awards for his commercial work and for his black and white underwater images, which have been exhibited numerous times. In 2009 his photographic archive of Queen was exhibited in Australia in the exhibition entitled “Queen – The Unseen Archive”. In November 2021, a very successful new exhibition was held in Munich, to celebrate Freddie Mercury, in which some of Hince’s photos were exhibited. Peter also turned his first passion for writing into a memoir: “Queen Unseen,” critically acclaimed and published in over twenty countries around the world. A new photographic book that follows Peter’s journey with Queen will also be published in Italy at the end of February, over 50 years after their first meeting. Today he lives between London and Munich, writing, exhibiting and managing his photographic archive and is often called upon to give interviews and invited to be a speaker and representative of the music world in the 70s and 80s.
“QUEEN UNSEEN | Peter Hince” in Milan is produced and organized by Blu&Blu Network of Rome and created in collaboration with Luciana Matalon Foundation and with the support of Anteo Palazzo del Cinema and Hard Rock Cafe Milan, two important special partners who will promote the event in different ways.
Fondazione Luciana Matalon, committed since 2000 to the promotion of art and culture at the behest of its founder and artist Luciana Matalon, collaborates enthusiastically in the creation of the Milanese exhibition project. Queen in fact represent a cultural phenomenon that has significantly revolutionized the world of music, art and entertainment. Peter Hince’s photographic documentation represents an iconic and unique point of view of the band’s artistic journey, which the Foundation and its president, Dr. Nello Taietti, are pleased to be able to include within their exhibition program dedicated to photography and the diversified uses of this artistic medium.
“QUEEN UNSEEN | Peter Hince” also continues at the Hard Rock Cafe Milan, the most rock’n’roll venue in the heart of the Milanese capital in via Dante 5, which for the entire duration of the exhibition will host on its walls exclusive photographs, memorabilia and music videos that fans of the historic band will only be able to admire it there. A unique experiential journey which will also act as a link, in fact anyone who makes a purchase at the Hard Rock Rock Shop will receive a voucher to present at the exhibition to request a reduced ticket. But not only that, those who visit the exhibition before will receive a discount to use at the Rock Shop of Hard Rock Cafe Milan.
Anteo Palazzo del Cinema will host a meeting for the public with Peter Hince on Tuesday February 6th at 6 pm moderated by the curator of the exhibition Niccolò Chimenti. Tickets to watch the conversation in English are on sale for 5 euros on the cinema’s website. Furthermore, by presenting the entrance ticket for Anteo Palazzo del Cinema issued from February 6th to April 21st visitors will obtain reduced entry to the exhibition.
Also for the Milanese stage, thanks must be extended to FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano, Multivision, Ledvision, Primafila Magazine, Franciosa Comunicazione, P&B Communication and the partner radio station Radio Bruno.
The exhibition can be visited from February 8th to April 21st from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00 to 19.00, with a full ticket price of €18.00 and a reduced ticket of €12.00.
More information on the exhibition, opening times and days, purchase and ticket prices are available on the website www.queenunseen.it
Fondazione Luciana Matalon
Foro Buonaparte 67, Milano
02.878781
[email protected]
www.fondazionematalon.org
