Friday, September 11, 2009

The futility of it all: Juergen Teller "Paradis" exhibit, NYC



"Gentle and soft as she appears, it will be as difficult to win her heart, as to entice down a white bird from its sunny freedom in the sky."*



"Side by side with the massiveness of the Roman Past, all matter, that we handle or dream of, now-a-days, look evanescent and visionary alike."*





"...Cleopatra had sunk down out of the fever and turmoil of her life, and, for one instant--as it were, between two pulsethrobs--had relinquished all activity, and was resting throughout every vein and muscle."*


In a downmarket, art and marketing and music can all become a little blurry around the edges, ironically in the attempt to appear edgier. Just look at Urban Outfitters' latest catalogue, which is clear as mud. My lord, they sell LOMO CAMERAS. It might be a phase, a whif of nostalgia when things stink. But photographer Juergen Teller has had a raw, overexposed style since The Face was the magazine of the 80's. Now, from September 10 through October 17, Teller is showing works commissioned from Paradis Magazine at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in NYC.
Of the pics here, the top is one from Teller's long-standing (10 year) collaboration with Marc Jacobs. The rest are from Paradis. What I love about his work is the way that through the photographic lense, he so captures the ephemeral and umbrageous quality of a woman's beauty. One is so aware of the artist and his medium that his subject is comparable to a dainty butterfly, flying carefree in his net.

* Words by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun (1860)

No comments:

Post a Comment