GalerieEstherWoerdehoff Press Release Gérard Musy

Press Release
Exhibition
11.12 – 11.15.2014
Opening reception :
Thursday, November 13th, 2014, from 6 to 10 pm. The artist will be
Gérard Musy : KALEIDOSCOPE Cornucopia
Pop Up - Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
16 rue du Perche, 75003 Paris, France
The Galerie Esther Woerdehoff is proud to present a recent series of images by Swiss
photographer Gérard Musy, which will be exhibited in a pop-up venue located in the
Marais area during Le Mois de la Photo Off.
Gérard Musy’s Kaleidoscope series display a multiple and dynamic concept, celebrated
by day and night. In this temporary Mois de la Photo Off space, Kaleidoscope will be
presented in different ways: A slideshow will be projected on the gallery window, framed
prints exhibited on the walls and finally, all the photographs of the series gathered in a
central portfolio. Music by Satie, Cage and Ligeti, tunes from musical boxes and scores
from musicals will accompany the visitor into that immersive and vibrant vision.
The joyful subjects of Kaleidoscope, including Andalusian Feria costumes, Siena
Palio riders, fair roundabouts, Christmas windows, circus arenas, summer beaches,
etc. are turned into a bright and colourful explosion in these photographs. The closeup compositions become nearly abstract. Kaleidoscope (in Greek etymology “lovely
appearance”) displays a firework and festival of colours: a beautiful visual serendipity.
Gérard Musy, famous for his sleek and sophisticated black and white photographs, has
initiated a reflection on colour. At first, there is an natural attraction to bright colours
that has always been important through out art history - often we forget the vibrant
colours existing on antique or medieval scluptures. Then, it reminds us the eternal
opposition between colour and black and white: for example, the opposition between
Malevich’s and Rodchenko’s monochrome paintings in the beginning of abstract art.
To be more down to earth, that alternation can be also observed by the return of black
beginning of the ‘80s after an extreme multicoloured psychedelic era throughout the
‘60s and ‘70s.
Within his horn of plenty – Cornucopia – Gérard Musy offers the viewers a motley
mixture, spectacular patchwork and eruption of blazing colours. That chaotic effect is
even enhanced by assembling four mirroring photographs within the same frame.
Photography is thus reflection of life and energy.
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
For any inquiries, please contact Sabine Guédamour by email at
[email protected] or by phone at +33 9 51 51 24 50
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
1
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
Press Images
Gérard Musy, Kaléidoscope, 2006-2014
Lambda print, 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm (edition of 25)
Gérard Musy, Kaléidoscope, 2006-2014
Lambda print, 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm (edition of 25)
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
The use of images is exclusively reserved for promotion of the exhibition and
valid up to three months after the end date of the exhibition.
Obligatory mention: © Gérard Musy, Courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
2
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
Press Images
Gérard Musy, Kaléidoscope, 2006-2014
Lambda print, 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm (edition of 25)
Gérard Musy, Kaléidoscope, 2006-2014
Lambda print, 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm (edition of 25)
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
The use of images is exclusively reserved for promotion of the exhibition and
valid up to three months after the end date of the exhibition.
Obligatory mention: © Gérard Musy, Courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
3
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
Press Images
Gérard Musy, Kaléidoscope, 2006-2014
Lambda print, 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm (edition of 25)
Gérard Musy, Kaléidoscope, 2006-2014
Lambda print, 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm (edition of 25)
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
The use of images is exclusively reserved for promotion of the exhibition and
valid up to three months after the end date of the exhibition.
Obligatory mention: © Gérard Musy, Courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
4
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
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 the Museum de L’Elysée in Lausanne.
Solo shows
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
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
1978
A propos de La-Chaux-de-Fonds, galerie La Plume, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
5
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
1977
Regards d’Espagne, Centre de Rencontres, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Group shows
2014
Drive In (in collaboration with the 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)
1999
Fetish, Calton Books, London (collective publication)
Love & Desire, Thames and Hudson publishers, London (collective publication)
1994
Lustre. La vie nocturne des années 80. Editions Benteli, Bern (personal publication)
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
6
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
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
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
36 rue Falguière
75015 Paris - France
Tel : +33 09 51 51 24 50
mar. - sam. 14h - 18h
www.ewgalerie.com
[email protected]
7
GalerieEstherWoerdehoff