GalerieEstherWoerdehoff Gérard Musy

Biography
Artist
Gérard Musy
Gerard Musy was born in 1959 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. While attending the
University of Geneva in 1983, he began photographing the New York nightlife. In 1986,
he received his bachelor’s degree with a thesis in art history about the photographer
Robert Frank. In the sophisticated black and white of the “Sexy Eighties”, he not
only photographed the collections of the greatest fashion designers but also intriguing
creatures dressed in leather, latex and sequins who ruled the nightlife of Paris, London
or New York. At a time when photographers were rushing and crowding around the
catwalk, Gerard Musy, equipped of his Leica, was one of the first photographers to
invest the backstage. Women are the heroines of his photos: seductive, conniving, sexy
or domineering. They could be famous top models or anonymous, Gerard Musy always
came close to his subjects: these queens of the night embodied sensuality and freedom,
two elements that seems to have disappeared from the clubs and nightclubs of today.
Since 1991, he lives in Paris and continues his commercial and personal projects.
He has worked for Armani, Paco Rabanne and other important names in fashion. His
photographs are regularly published in international magazines, including Vanity Fair,
Harper‘s Bazaar and Skin Two. He has received several awards including two Swiss
Federal Grants His photographs can be found among the collections of the Bibliothèque
Nationale de France, the Swiss Foundation for Photography in Winterthur and Museum
de L’Elysée in Lausanne.
Solo shows
2014
Kaléidoscope Cornucopia, Galerie Pop-Up Esther Woerdehoff, Paris
2013
Back to Backstage, Galerie des Nouvelles Images, Hôtel Scribe, Paris
Lustres & Lamées, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris
2011
Leaves Wandering Days, Schwartzenbach Weinbau, Zurich, Switzerland
Leaves Wandering Days, galerie NeC, Paris
2008
Lustre Fetish Nights, galerie NeC, Paris
2007
Projection of Lustre Fetish Nights, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
1994
Lustre, Fondation Ebel at « la Villa Turque » by Le Corbusier, La Chaux-de-Fonds,
Switzerland
Exposition évènement, Bains Douches, Paris
1991
Lustre, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
1986
City Limes, Halle Sud, Geneva, Switzerland
Exposition, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
1985
Le tout Genève en cartes postales, galerie Comestible, Geneva, Switzerland
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
1
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
1978
A propos de La-Chaux-de-Fonds, galerie La Plume, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
1977
Regards d’Espagne, Centre de Rencontres, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Group shows
2014
Photo Basel, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Basel, Switzerland
Drive In (en collaboration avec la Galerie Esther Woerdehoff), Bildhalle, Zurich,
Switzerland
Drive In (en collaboration avec la Galerie Esther Woerdehoff), Galerija Fotografija,
Ljubljana, Slovenia
2013
Tokyo Photo, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Tokyo
Paris Photo Los Angeles, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Los Angeles
2012
Projection of Leaves, Nuit de la Photo, Biennale at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, La
Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
2010
Sexy X-mas, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
Queens Shuffle, galerie NeC, Paris
2009
Balnéaire, galerie NeC, Paris
2008
Darkside: Photographic Desire and Sexuality Photographed, Fotomuseum Winterthur,
Switzerland
1991
Die Schweiz anderes sehen, Musée d’Art, Fribourg, Switzerland
1989
In the Swim, Staley+Wise Gallery, New York City
Images of Illusion, An Exhibition of Contemporary Fashion Photography, Staley+Wise
Gallery, New York City
Bibliography
2008
Lustre Fetish Nights (book-DVD), LLeditions, Geneva (personal publication)
Darkside : Photographic Desire and Sexuality Photographed, Steidl, Eidelberg
(collective publication)
Fetish Dreams, Skylight, Zurich (collective publication)
2001
Love, Lust & Desire, Carlton Books, London (collective publication)
Femmes, Carlton Books, London (collective publication)
2000
Venus, Carlton Books, London (collective publication)
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
1999
Fetish, Calton Books, London (collective publication)
Love & Desire, Thames and Hudson publishers, London (collective publication)
2
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
1994
Lustre. La vie nocturne des années 80. Editions Benteli, Bern (personal publication)
1991
Die Schweiz anders sehen, Editions Benteli, Bern (collective publication)
Collections
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Fondation Suisse pour la photographie, Winterthur, Zurich
Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
3
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff