American Ecstasy

american_ecstasy_barbara_nitke

"It’s hard to imagine now, but in 1982 when I started working on porn movies, we shot real 35mm film on big movie cameras.  Home video cassette players had barely been invented.  There were no DVD’s, no home computers, no Internet.  People went out to downtown movie theaters and watched sex movies on the silver screen." American Ecstasy is the photographic memoir of Barbara Nitke who over 12 years shot publicity stills during the golden age of porn. "My images reveal the contradictions inherent in the business – great beauty, tinged with sadness, punctuated by surreal silliness." Nitke is currently raising funds to publish a book of "....seventy color plates, a selection of my written stories of life on the movie sets, and short excerpts from tape recorded interviews [she] conducted with the porn stars at the time." There are currently 11 days left to complete funding for the publishing of American Ecstasy.

The Mysterious Photography of Marty Mannington

Christopher Lusher of Hillbilly Magazine sent over a link to a fascinating project – a collection of photographs he found in the garbage by a mysterious photographer named Marty Mannington – all beautifully scanned and presented on a tumblr platform giving a unique, albeit posthumous, narrative to a life that would otherwise remain anonymous. Lusher: "This is a collection of photos I found in my garbage one day in a large, baby blue suitcase. The only thing held within was photo album after photo album. A narrative ran through all of the photos from various stages of Mrs. Manningtons life. The final and most recent photos show an ill Mrs. Mannington in her hospital bed and thats where the narrative ends. I am presenting these photos here as a platform for someone who clearly enjoyed photography and am offering a chance for the passed to speak. They are presented without titles or information as to give the viewer more of a dynamic, spontaneous and perhaps haunting experience. Music is added to enrich the feeling and mood of the photos." Visit Marty Mannington's strange world.

Eve Arnold Memorial Exhibition

anthony_quinn_anna_karina_eve_arnold
Anthony Quinn and Anna Karina on the set of Guy Green's "The Magus," in Mallorca, Spain. 1976

Pioneering photographer, Eve Arnold, who died last month, age 99, is the subject of a memorial exhibition of her work, mounted in London, her adoptive home. Art Sensus will present over 100 unique photographs and a new book of the work of American photographer Eve Arnold (1912-2012). Curated by Brigitte Lardinois, All About Eve will offer a spectrum of incredible works, both vintage and modern, all drawn from Arnold’s personal archive. The only solo exhibition to feature Arnold’s work in the UK this year thus far All About Eve has been selected from a private collection, which also loaned some of the prints for the book. Of the works in the book, almost half have been little exhibited and rarely published, if at all. The book, published by Thames & Hudson, entitled Eve Arnold's People,  includes texts by Angelica Huston and Isabella Rossellini, but is currently completely sold out and not available for purchase. All About Eve will be on view at Art Sensus March 2 through April 27, 2012, 7 Howick Place, London.

Flesh & Film

A new book, entitled Francesca Woodman: The Roman Years Between Skin and Film (Contrasto), takes a new look at the life and work of Francesca Woodman through a fresh analysis of the photographs and writings from her Roman sojourn. A precocious artist and a figure caught between two cultures –American and Italian– Francesca Woodman reached the acme of her artistic parable in Rome, where she fully defined her aesthetic and stylistic sensibilities. The book is available here.

Julian Gilbert's Public Displays of Affection

Julian Gilbert's photographs of random couples kissing, in a series entitled PDA, are voyeuristic, but could also be images taken by some kind of secret-agent alien to prove to a distant planet how strange the human species and mankind truly is. In fact almost all his photographs have that feeling – like you've unlocked some kind of private file. Julian Gilbert, a 24 year old New York native, photographs other aliens too – artists, musicians, actors – and they look more at home on camera and less like some kind of endangered species caught in the cross hairs of Gilbert's viewfinder.  All and all, his photographs are undeniably full of fervent and vibrant life. Gilbert is now offering his photography outside the gallery: just send him a self addressed stamped envelope and five bucks and you get one random, unique 4X6 or 4X5 print. A pretty sweet deal.

Juergen Teller in New York

juergen_teller_lehman_maupin

Presented in three parts, an upcoming exhibition at Lehman Maupin Gallery in New York, highlights three recent series, demonstrating Teller’s dynamic and diverse oeuvre. Featuring the controversial photographs of Kristen McMenamy and seductive portraits of Vivienne Westwood, juxtaposed with intimate portraits of his family and close friends, this exhibition displays an amalgam of subjects and personalities. The exhibition starts with Teller’s controversial series of photographs featuring Kristen McMenamy, shot in the home of Carlos Mollino. Drawing inspiration from the eccentric architect, Teller recalls Mollino’s fascination with the erotic, capturing McMenamy in provocative poses. Although the series garnered controversy for its alleged β€œpornographic” nature, it demonstrates Teller’s skilled storytelling and fearless approach to his medium. On view from February 10 to March 17, 2012 at the Lehman Maupin Gallery, 201 Chrystie Street, New York.

The Shamanistic Photography of ALMAGUL MENLIBAYEVA

In the Steppes of her native Kazakhstan, Almagul Menlibayeva stages complex mythological narratives, rooted in the Zoroastrian ideology of former Persia, anΒ ideologyΒ that is to this today spreading widely across Eurasia and influencing Western politicians and philosophers and the Tengriism (sky religion) of the Turkic tribes, and with reference to her own nomadic heritage and the Shamanistic traditions of the cultures of Central Asia. "I use specific ways of expression in modern and contemporary art as a vehicle to investigate my personal archaic atavism as a certain mystical anthropomorphism. In other words, I explore the nature of a specificΒ Egregore, a shared cultural psychic experience, which manifests itself as a specific thought-form among the people(s) of the ancient, arid and dusty Steppes between the Caspian Sea, Baikonur and Altai in today’s Kazakhstan," saysΒ Menlibayeva.Β Menlibayeva will be exhibiting in a number of group shows during 2012, fromΒ The Mediterranean Biennale of Contemporary Art in Israel this Fall to theΒ 18th Biennale of Sydney. Β Her works are currently on view until February at theΒ Β LASALLE College of Arts in Singapore for a show entitledΒ East is West: Three Women Artists.

Exemplar: Photographs of Joy Division

The world was intolerable and mean to Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division, and he spit back with cruel,Β introspectivelyΒ haunting lyrics in the hopes to close and heal the wounds that he so desperately tried and failed to lick clean. Β  In the end, love indeed tore him apart. On view now at the Manchester Photographic Gallery are 45 iconic images of life behind the legendary band Joy Division by photographer Kevin Cummings from their first gig in 1977 to Ian Curtis' suicide in 1980.Β Exemplar: Joy Division by Kevin Cummins, Manchester PhotographicΒ  6 January - 26 February,Β Manchester Photographic Gallery is atΒ Tariff Street,Β Northern Quarter, City, 0161 236 2446.

Lovesody

Photographer, Motoyuki Daifu, has established himself as one of Japan’s brightest young talents. His chaotic diaristic style continues to evolve in his first monograph Lovesody a short print run of only 300 copies from new publisher Little Big Man. We see him in his twenties now having left home and seemingly over-his-head in a relationship with a young single mother of two. Β To mark the release of the book, today Dashwood BooksΒ (33 Bond StΒ Β New York, NY)Β will be hosting a book signing and tomorrow will Β be the opening ofΒ Motoyuki Daifu’s solo show of the same series atΒ Lombard Freid ProjectsΒ (518 West 19th Street,Β New York, NY)Β on view until March 3, 2012.

The Total Look

moca_the-rudi-gernreich-book-by-peggy-moffitt-and-william-claxton

The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles presents The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernreich, Peggy Moffitt, and William Claxton, on view from February 26 through May 20, 2012, at MOCA Pacific Design Center. The exhibition will celebrate the remarkable collaboration between the great fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, his model and muse Peggy Moffitt, and Moffitt’s late husband, the photographer William Claxton, who created the distinctive images of Moffitt activating Gernreich’s designs. The exhibition will feature selected looks from Moffitt’s definitive collection, with films and photographs by Claxton of Moffitt modeling the clothes.