Creating beauty from urban detritus. Robert Rauschenberg did it, Peter Blake did it, Eduardo Paolozzi did it, but well before them, Kurt Schwitters built his deliciously layered collage art from found materials. He even invented a name for it – ‘Merz’ – which described his equal opportunities approach to creativity, in which all artists materials and techniques had the same value. (more…)
Opening today at the ICA is Juergen Teller’s ‘Woo’ exhibition. I’m desperate to see it, in particular his landscapes that I’ve only recently discovered. Here’s a clip I found (above) of him shooting Helena Bonham Carter with his two Contaxes. And here’s another one (below) of him shooting Kate Moss. (Venetia Scott makes an appearance too)… (more…)
William Klein + Daido Moriyama is possibly the best thing I’ve seen all year. Comparing and contrasting both photographers’ approaches to street life in New York and Tokyo, it instantly appealed to my love of graphics and energy in documentary photography. Years ago I saw a Garry Winogrand exhibition at The Hayward and I still vividly remember those in-yer-face compositions of life in New York. Some of these reminded me of those.
The exhibition space is a layout of vast, high ceiling-ed rooms that give breathing space to the biggest and most dramatic Klein artworks (he often mashed up photography and art by sploshing paint around the borders of the image or across the image itself for even greater impact). Like his wide-angle compositions that put you in the midst of the action, the design of the exhibition repeats Klein’s sense of big city chaos. Framed photos are densely ordered row on row, depicting the busyness and character of Rome, Moscow, Tokyo and New York. Also integral are the photo books on display by both Klein and Moriyama, many on loan from Martin Parr’s extensive collection.
Moriyama’s work is less punchy and more detached than Klein’s, with greyer, grainier portraits of Tokyo and New York street life. They didn’t have such an immediate impact for me but I loved the room of Polaroid montages towards the end. The exhibition is on at Tate Modern until 20th January and I highly recommend going on a Friday evening to avoid the weekend crowds.
Just sharing my favourite photos from Karl Lagerfeld’s Little Black Jacket exhibition, which opened at the Saatchi Gallery today (I went to the preview yesterday). I really didn’t have high hopes for this so I was shocked at how much I loved it. The casting is wonderful, as is Carine Roitfeld’s styling. Karl has truly managed to capture the style and personality of each of his sitters. And the gigantic prints (by Steidl) are nicely displayed, gently pinned to the wall. The exhibition is huge and you can even take away a free poster with you. So much nicer than flooding the shop with tacky merch, no?
The exhibition is on from now until 28th October and you can buy the accompanying book there too (it’s a lot cheaper than in the shops).
*SPOILER ALERT* Don’t look down if you don’t want to see (top to bottom) Ines de La Fressange, Frankie Rayder, Jane Birkin, Lauren Hutton, Linda Evangelista, Sojourner Morrell, Alexa Chung, Sofia Coppola, Sing Hye-Kyo, Kirsten Owen and Lily Donaldson… (more…)
