Robert Mapplethorpe...coveted portraits on exhibit in San Francisco! San Jose Museum of Art!

Self-portrait!



For locals who are fans of Robert Mapplethorpe the collection of portraits on exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art is a treasure trove to behold!

Through June 5th, approximately 100 photographic stills by Mapplethorpe - described by the curator as "timeless and intense" - are on display for up-close inspection at the gallery in downtown San Francisco.

The superb gelatin silver prints include a self portrait of the artist grasping an ornate cane (1968), as well as insightful captures of artist/musician Yoko Ono (1988), lover - rocker - Patti Smith (1975), and legendary front man for the Stooges, Iggy Pop (1981).

Robert Mapplethorpe had an eye for balance - and always lensed his subjects with flawless perfection - whether he was focused on still lifes, the human figure, or portraits (that were of special interest to the talented artist in the early days of his budding career).

The Mapplethorpe's portraitures featured in the dazzling exhibition at the San Jose Museum are quite a departure from the artist's controversial homoerotic nudes.

These traditional portraits, for example, reveal a sense of beauty rarely shared by his contemporaries - which is why the collection here sets him apart - and distinguishes the photographer as one of the great artistic visionaries of this century.

Some of the pieces were commissioned for wealthy patrons, while others represent a cross-section of friends and fellow artists he crossed paths with, who became a part of his short life (Mapplethorpe died at age 42).

Mapplethorpe's artistic leanings were deeply-rooted in the cultural scene of New York in the late 1970s and 1980's, and subsequently, reflect that era exquisitely.

The exhibition is mostly comprised of black-and-white photographs of artists, art dealers, writers, musicians, designers, dancers, actors, and legends such as William Burroughs, Truman Capote, Glenn Close, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Gere, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Grace Jones, Lisette Model, Alice Neel, Yoko Ono, Paloma Picasso, Iggy Pop, Isabella Rossellini, Ed Ruscha, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Andy Warhol.

Many of the photographs are on loan from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation based in New York.

Guest curator Gordon Baldwin underscored in his introduction to the exhibit that these portraits document a key moment in New York life and in the LGBT community:

"Mapplethorpe's portraits are representative of New York at a particularly vibrant, prosperous, and expansive moment in its history, when it was the undisputed center of the art world, and before it experienced the full impact of the AIDS epidemic."

This dazzling comprehensive display was organized by the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Major sponsors include the Helene and Lou Galen Exhibition Fund and the Faye and Herman Sarkowsky Exhibition Fund.

Catch the Mapplethorpe retrospective, if you can, eh?

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Mrs. John Lennon

Afghanistan in 4 Frames...embedded photojournalists capture soldiers at ease! Thought-provoking San Francisco Exhibit!

 

Quiet intimate moments captured on film!



At the height of the War in the Afghanistan conflict, heart-wrenching images flooded the airwaves daily on the evening news.

Now, thought-provoking stills of the war-torn country– at least eighty in number – are on exhibit in the lower level of City Hall in downtown San Francisco.

Thanks to funding provided by the Art Commission, the insightful work of four reputable photojournalists (who were embedded with the military forces overseas for five years), provides a golden opportunity for Americans to get an up-close “insider look” at a soldier’s daily routine.

For example, a handful of the intimate photographs capture average soldiers at rest or on-the-ready for action.

The photographers – Lynsey Addario, Teru Kuwayama, James Lee and Eros Hoagland – actually risked their lives chronicling the (at-times) disturbing shots of Afghans caught in the crossfire, too.

James Lee, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, traveled near the Pakistan border with the Afghan National Security Forces and was able to snap a color photo essay (titled "Counter Narratives") that offers up a rare view of a military group preparing to seize power once the Allies withdraw.

Light-hearted photographs – one features a bird perched on the beret of a young soldier – are also included in the comprehensive collection.

Teru Kuwayama is the lone artist included in the riveting display who facilitated the use of film rather than digital technology for practical reasons.

According to Kuwayama – the equipment was less obtrusive and allowed for easier maneuvering and better access in regions where fragile battery-operated cameras weren’t feasible.

Pulitzer prize-winner – Lynsey Addario – focused her lens on female Marines performing routine duties in the community ("Women at War") where the soldiers reached out to women and children in ways their male counterparts in uniform could not.

A series of stills – "Out of the Line of Fire" – captured female forces shaving their legs, grooming their hair, and relaxing off-duty in unlikely perches in the most volatile-of-regions near the enemy lines.

Afghanistan in 4 Frames is on display through May 13th at San Francisco City Hall (in the lower level).

INFORMATION

www.sfartscommission.org/gallery/2010/afghanistan-in-four-frames

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James Lee photograph

Richard Avedon Foundation...priceless fashion stills to be auctioned!

 

The largest collection of original Richard Avedon photographs have been catalogued for auction at Christie's in Paris next week (November 20th).

The unprecedented offering (sixty scintillating stills in total) boasts seminal portraits of sixties icons such as Twiggy and Veruschka (featured in a Bill Blass dress circa 1967).

In addition, collectors will - no doubt - jump at the rare opportunity to bid on a handful of unforgettable fashion images Avedon rustled up with his searing insightful lens which include:

*Dovina and Elephants
  Evening Dress by Dior

*Cirque d'Hiver
  Paris

Richard Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish-Russian family.

Curiously, the imaginative photographer started taking snapshots for the Merchant Marines (for identification purposes) with a Rolleiflex camera which was gifted to him by his father as a going-away present.

In 1944, the talented visionary artist began working as an advertising photographer for a department store, shortly before being discovered by Alexey Brodovitch, the art director for the fashion magazine at the oh-so-chic Harper's Bazaar.

Lillian Bassman also saw promise in Avedon and later promoted his highly-stylistic photographic images as well.

Avedon launched his own studio in 1946 - at which point - he began to accept assignments for fashionable upscale magazines such as Vogue and Life.

Within a scant few years, the remarkable Avedon became the chief photographer for Harper's.

Part of Avedon's success arose from his tendency to break away from standard photo-shoot techniques utilized by his fellow contemporaries at the time.

Avedon preferred to photograph models expressing a full range of emotions - smiling, laughing, and in action - whenever possible.

This was his signature style!

In 1966, Avedon became a staff photographer for Vogue magazine, and later on headed up the whole shebang!

As a result, Avedon's stunning images ended up gracing dozens of the most memorable covers at Vogue Magazine from 1973 through 1980.

Avedon is infamous for having shot the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign featuring 15-year-old Brooke Shields which caused quite a sensation at the time.

In May of 1992, Ms. Shields told Interview magazine:

"When Dick (Avedon) walks into the room, a lot of people are intimidated. But when he works, he's so acutely creative, so sensitive. And he doesn't like it if anyone else is around or speaking. There is a mutual vulnerability, and a moment of fusion when he clicks the shutter. You either get it or you don't".

I do!

If only I had the moolah to snap up one of his dazzling stills.

Oh well, I can dream, can't I?




Twiggy & Avedon in a candid moment!

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