The Model Boy

Photograph by David Siqueiros (C) 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Debuting its Arts Program, the InterContinental Miami, hosts photographer David Siqueiros as he presents a never-before-seen collection of black and white photos featuring Andy Warhol titled: Andy Warhol - "The Model Boy." Warhol posed for Siqueiros in October 1985 and is seen cavorting with two top Ford Models of the time, Patricia Van Ryckeghem, the face of Chanel and Clotilde, the face of Ralph Lauren. Photographed by Siqueiros at the Codalight Studio in New York City, this is believed to be one of Andy Warhol's last photo shoots before his passing in February 1987. The InterContinental Miami is transforming its Grand Lobby into a gallery to debut the collection with a VIP reception on the eve of Art Basel Miami Beach on November 30, 2011. The installation will remain on exhibit through January 1, 2012. The InterContinental Miami is located at 100 Chopin Plaza, Miami, FL, 33131.

Lartigue

The Galerie Berinson is showing the oeuvre of the world-famous photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue for the first time in Berlin. Lartigue shaped our image of the Belle Époque more keenly than any other photographer. The world of automobile racing, elegant ladies, and the carefree life of the French bourgeoisie are irrevocably entwined with his photographic oeuvre. On view until December 16 the Galerie Berinson, Lindenstraße 34, 3. Floor, D-10969 Berlin.

Talking Pictures

Talking Pictures brings together over 200 black and white images culled from Ellen Graham’s work for such magazines as People and Time, her personal archives, and her collection of family photographs. Each photograph is accompanied by a personal narrative that takes you behind the scenes of these celebrated images and breathes life into the glamour of Hollywood’s golden age. Each portrait captures a rare and unguarded moment in the lives of these highly-photographed stars, giving a truly intimate and fresh look at such legendary figures as Frank Sinatra, Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, and Prince Albert of Monaco. Whether shooting actors, performers, or European royalty, Graham redefines the resonating myths that have come to surround these iconic characters. Ellen Graham: Talking Pictures is out now on Pointed Lead Press.

Thomas Ruff

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Thomas Ruff (b. 1958), known for his deadpan portraits and gorgeous views of the night sky and architecture, is one of Germany's leading contemporary artist/photographers. Among his work is an exploration of the internet, that parallel visual universe teeming with sexuality of every flavor and variety. He gathers from that virtual playground erotic and often pornographic photographs that he subsequently manipulates in his computer, making beautiful--and disturbing--artwork from visual material that, for better or worse, is probably more abundant than any other type of image in our world today. The pictures, which are graphic and abstract at the same time, are accompanied by an excerpt from a forthcoming novel by controversial French writer Michel Houellebecq, whose work is similarly influenced by the sex industry. Reviewing the series in the Village Voice, Jerry Saltz wrote: "Ruff may think these images are analytic or objective, but they're also sweetly, luxuriantly visual...Sex slips into something ravishingly, optically comfortable, and these everyday, off-world images morph into parapaintings from the Planet Love."

Ralph Eugene Meatyard: Dolls and Masks

Ralph Eugene Meatyard is not one of the most familiar names in photographic history, but his impact on the field, belatedly recognized, is significant. An optician in Lexington, Kentucky, Meatyard sustained a lifelong interest in visual perception. Well read and deeply connected to a circle of poets and philosophers, he made photographs rich in literary allusion. In his last decade, Meatyard kept returning to the tropes of dolls and masks, often photographing his children posed in abandoned houses and landscapes in the environs of his home. These pictures put an uncanny spin on family photography, exploring the contrasts between youth and age, childhood and mortality, intimacy and unknowability, sharing and hiding. Drawn from the photographer’s estate, and including three prints recently acquired by the Fine Arts Museums, this exhibition of almost 60 photographs examines dolls and masks across different bodies of work as a window onto this enigmatic photographer’s larger practice. Ralph Eugene Meatyard: Dolls and Masks is currently on view at the de Young in San Francisco until February 26.

Melody Nelson

Artnet Auctions announces the sale of nine rare and beautiful works by photographer Tony Frank (French, b.1945) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the legendary album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, by iconic French singer and artist Serge Gainsbourg. This photographic sale includes the memorable album cover, which contributed to Melody Nelson’s stature in French culture, and will only be on artnet Auctions until November 16, 2011.

Plossu Retrospective At Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura Gallery in Paris, who represents the French photographer Bernard Plossu is currently presenting Parcours dans l’œuvre de Bernard Plossu, du Mexique à l’Ardèche, a retrospective of sorts in two parts through two bodies of work, entitled “voyage en Mexique” (1965-1966) and “le pays des petites routes (2008-2010) en Ardèche”. In 1965 Plossu arrived in Mexico and took photographs of the landscapes and of the people to create his series “Voyage Mexicaine." Plossu also traveled to Africa in 1975 and then lived in New Mexico before moving to France in 1985. In the 1970s, he invented a simple and neutral photographic style, without depriving the sentimentality from his pictures. The photographer is mainly recognized for his black and white pictures, however at the exhibition, spectators have the opportunity to discover his color photography as well.  It should be noted also that this exhibition is displaying never before published works by Plossu.  On view until December 23. 

KC Ortiz & POSE: Whitewash

On Saturday, November 19, graffiti artist POSE and photojournalist KC Ortiz will unveil Whitewash, their second exhibition at Known Gallery in Los Angeles, and their most cohesive to date. For POSE, Whitewash references society’s attempt to eradicate graffiti and stifle human expression. “Shortly after I started writing graffiti, Chicago took an extremely hard-line stance on its eradication, outlawing the sale of spraypaint and implementing Mayor Dayley’s Graffiti Blasters program,” POSE explains. With this exhibition, POSE will recall a time before the buff. “I am digging into my fondest childhood memories of riding the train and seeing all the colors, letters and cartoon characters along the lines. Making these paintings has been an incredibly rich process, and it makes me thankful that no city official can eradicate my memories.” POSE will show 15 new works in the main gallery. For KC, Whitewash is about the people and places he photographs. “Much of the work I do covers those who have been ‘whitewashed,’ so to speak, by history and policy,” KC notes. “Specifically, the work I will be exhibiting is from West Papua and Burma. You won’t find either of those ‘nations’ on the map, as both have been essentially ‘whitewashed’ away. Burma has been renamed Myanmar by its ruling junta in order to establish the fantasy of a unified nation, and West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since 1963 after a very controversial handover from the Dutch that was orchestrated by the United States.” In the project room, KC will show 12 photographs of West Papua and Burma’s armed struggles. Whitewash will be on view from November 19 to to December 1o at Known Gallery.