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Indepth Arts News:
"Eulogy to Beauty:"
2001-09-14 until 2001-10-27
Photofusion Photography Centre
London, ,
UK United Kingdom
This eclectic exhibition features the work of a number of figures at the forefront of 20th century figurative photography. Through a multiplicity of techniques and genres, kinship is conferred by their fascination with the imaging of beauty. Eulogy to Beauty asks the viewer to analyse the multi-faceted concept of beauty and the role of photography in exploring that concept. It includes, amongst others, such luminaries of western photography as Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Victor Skrebneski, William Klein, Frank Horvat, Jock Sturges, Irina Ionesco, Jean Loup Sieff, Joyce Tennyson, Andres Serrano, Jan Saudek and Rafael Navarro.
The concern here is not with nudity for its own sake, but with the aesthetics of beauty. However, it is a commonplace that the male - and indeed often female - gaze finds its target for this aesthetic in the feminine form, and the erotic representation of woman is as old as art itself. But beauty is a concept like any other, and this show is as much about fantasy and desire as it is about reality.
From the reportage of William Klein, through Mapplethorpe's confrontational erotica, the formal studies of Frantisek Drtikol and the stylised strictures of Frank Horvat's fashion photography, these images pursue a timeless ideological enquiry. By placing the work in an historical context, the exhibition aims to explore how the boundaries of one generation's work can become a prison for future generations.
Conceived at the Ken Damy Gallery in Italy, Eulogy to Beauty is situated across cultures and national divides. It confronts, too, the enduring controversy between the erotic and the pornographic. Politics sexual, ethical and artistic are all contained in this diverse catalogue of female representation.
In association with the Ken Damy Gallery, Brescia, Italy
Curated by Ken Damy and Lorenzo Merlo
Eulogy to Beauty features work by:
Andreas Serrano, Arthur Tress, Barbara Jakse, Bruno Sorlini, Christian Vogt, Ed Van Der Elsken, Edouard Boubat, Eleonora Olivetti, Ferdinando Scianna, Flor Garduño, Fotocelere (Mexico), Franco Fontana, Frank Horvat, Frantisek Drtikol, Franz Grainer, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Gertrude Fleischmann, Helmut Newton, Hideki Fujii, Hubert Grooteclaes, Irina Ionesco, Jean Loup Sieff, Jan Saudek, Jeff Dunas, Jock Sturges, Joseph Pécsi, Joyce Tenneson, Karl Schenker, Ken Damy, Lehnert and Landrock, Leo Matiz, Lola Alvarez Bravo, Lorenzo Merlo, Lucien Clergue, Luis Gonzalez Palma, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Mario Giacomelli, Occhiomagico, Olivier Christinat, Paul Den Hollander, Rafael Navarro, Ralph Gibson, Robert Mapplethorpe, Shojii Ueda, Traut, Victor Skrebneski, Will McBride, William Klein, William Ropp, and Wladislaw Pawelec.
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