VANTAG galeria: 09/05/17

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

THE AMERICAN DREAM WITH ALEXANDER MISSEN

Landing in Memphis and then heading west on the I-40, photographer Alexander Missen went in search of America. He would eventually visit 40 states over four years, spending time in sprawling metropolises, passing by disused gas stations and roadside motels and driving through barren wilderness. Always, he felt, the America of movies and literature, of ambition, potential and freedom was just out of reach. Over the course of the trip Missen’s lens fell on both characters and landscapes, on everyday and extraordinary events and locations. Over 70 of those images will now be presented at the Francesca Maffeo gallery in a new exhibition titled Q&A.

“What I ultimately came to realise was that the America I expected did exist – but only in small pockets. It had to be sought out and curated into a kind of simulacrum and in turn became an analogy for the act of photographing itself; an odd exercise in choosing what to point the camera at, what to exclude or ignore and what to embrace.”

Q&A opens at the Francesca Maffeo Gallery on 8th September.

JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHY

Iconic Japanese store BEAMS have set up shop at Harvey Nichols in London for 6 weeks, with a beautifully curated selection of fashion, homeware and books. Celebrating the rich culture of Japanese photography, independent publishing house MACK will be showcasing a selection of limited edition photography books.

Bringing together rare and celebrated works by Japanese photographers from Kikuji Kawada to Mayumi Hosokura, the exclusive edit promises an unparalleled insight into the cultural life of Japan, past and present.

Here’s a preview of what’s on offer.

MASAHISA FUKASE – RAVENS, £75

Regarded as one of the most important photobooks in the history of photography, Ravens by Masahisa Fukase is a haunting allegory of love and loss in postwar Japan. First published in 1986, the two subsequent editions were both short print runs that sold out immediately. This long-awaited bilingual reprint of the first edition contains a new text by founder of the Masahisa Fukase Archives, Tomo Kosuga, which locates Ravens in Fukase’s wider work and life, and is illustrated with newfound photographs and drawings.

TAKASHI HOMMA – THE NARCISSISTIC CITY, £45

Like a phastasmic city, this book brings together images of New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles made with a camera obscura – a lens-less pinhole device invented in the 16th century. Leading contemporary Japanese photographer Takashi Homma builds a mirage of urban landscapes with pages that fold outwards like a concertina, designed to pull us into a dark chamber of hazy reflections.

MAYUMI HOSOKURA – TRANSPARENCY IS A NEW MYSTERY, £25

Hailed as one to watch among a new generation of Japanese photographers, Mayumi Hosokura explores the mysterious bond between youth, beauty, nature and humans in this stunning, monochrome photobook. Bringing together softly erotic photographs of the nude body with mesmerising images of salt crystals, Hosokura traces dream-like connections between the two curious forms.

KIKUJI KAWADA – THE LAST COSMOLOGY, £45

The pioneering Japanese photographer Kikuji Kawada grew up in the shadow of the Hiroshima and Nagaski bombings. His dark, impressionistic images map the catastrophe of human folly and the mystery of the cosmos. In The Last Cosmology, Kawada photographs the dramas of the sky – electrical storms, fleeting meteorites, solar eclipses and coiling cloud-patterns. Captured between 1980 and 2000, the work was inspired by the apocalyptic skyscapes of the expressionist painter Emil Nolde and forms part of Kawada’s ‘The Catastophe Trology’.

The Harvey Nichols x BEAMS TOKYOJIN pop-up will run from 31 August for 6 weeks in the Project 109 concept space on the Lower Ground Menswear Floor. You can also shop an edit of the pieces on offer from Harvey Nichols online.

THE CAMPAIGNS OF HELMUT NEWTON

The hypersexualised yet surreal work of Helmut Newton is one of the enduring aesthetics in modern fashion imagery. Newton’s unique ability to combine glamour and abstraction appeals perfectly to a fashion industry that prides itself on artistic credibility but relies on sex and sexualisation for its sales and continued existence. As a pioneer of this style, Newton’s influence can be found in most modern campaigns, whether in slightly off-kilter compositions, casual, aloof models or curious locations.

Originally hired by French Vogue in the 1950s, Newton became one of fashion’s most revered photographers by the late 1960s and shot the majority of his iconic work in the subsequent decades until his passing aged 83 in 2004. He was of course recognised for his editorial work and portraiture as well as the unforgettable campaigns we’ve selected here.

Thierry Mugler AW78/79

Chanel AW78

Prada AW86

Chanel No.5 1971

Thierry Mugler, SS78