photography – Page 12

Posted on 07.02.201811.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Juul Kraijer ( 1970 )… depicted unease

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It was about 20 year ago i first saw work by Juul Kraijer. Kraijer was presented with a small exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum and as soon as i saw her works i was convinced of the quality of her art. Many years later, i Think it was the UNSEEN fair 2014 i encountered her photographs and had the same feeling about them.

They created an unease within me, but at the same time they were fascinating. I discovered for this blog that Kraijer has a very loyal and active following on Pinterest, but maybe the best way to discover her works is by visiting her site http://www.juulkraijer.com on which she gives a.o. an extensive text on her Hydra series of drawings. The HYDRA book is available at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 02.02.201811.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Erwin Olaf (1959)… new additions

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Over a year ago i devoted a blog to Joel Peter Witkin and Erwin Olaf and it has been too long since i wrote about Erwin Olaf, but this time it is worth writing about him because in recent months i was able to add some highly collectable Olaf publications to my inventory. Erwin Olaf publications are harder and harder to find and get more scarce every month, but sometimes you get lucky and you encounter a small collection. So in recent months i was able to add some great posters and rare publications. The Erwin Olaf poster for the Anjer Fonds was specially designed by Anthon Beeke and this makes it twice as special. The same is applicable to the Sipek book. Sipek a great artist, who’s works are photographed by Erwin Olaf… again two for the price of one. available at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 26.01.201811.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

David Levinthal (1949) and Henk Tas ( 1948)

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For me David Levinthal is the US equivalent of Henk Tas in the Netherlands. Age difference is only 1 year and both have developed their photography into a form of staged photography where both use little ( plastic) figurines to populate their photographs. Where Levinthal uses baseball , barbie and military figures, Tas uses animals and female figures in a setting strongly influenced by music. http://www.henktas.nl/home.php?kid=1

If you read the text on Wikipedia on Levinthal you realize that these photographs are not made in an easy way. Setting, staging and lightning all need to be perfect for a good photograph.Here is part of what Wikipedia says about Levinthal

His work is included in the permanent public collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art,^[2] and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. He has had solo exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon.

Levinthal has produced a diverse oeuvre, utilizing primarily large-format Polaroid photography. His works touch upon many aspects of American culture, from Barbie to baseball to X-rated dolls. He uses small toys and props with dramatic lighting to construct mini environments of subject matters varying from war scenes to voyeurism to racial and political references to American pop culture.

He creates miniature scenarios using shoeboxes, cardboard, and foam core to make miniature offices, hotel rooms, pool halls, foyers and narrow corridors. These shadowy and dark scenes expose the secrecy and intimacy of small spaces. Levinthal is particularly interested in exploring the different emotions that each scene produces, such as reactions to an office corridor in contrast to those to a hospital or a private bedroom. Indeed, there is an inherently voyeuristic aspect to these early works.

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I love both artists and can offer a nice original by Henk Tas in a private sale. For the books on these artists visit www.ftn-books.com where there is the best book on Tas available and the highly collectable Smithsonian catalogue on Levinthal’s photographs.

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Posted on 18.01.201811.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Bernd and Hilla Becher- Furnaces

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It must have been about 15 years ago that my father asked me if i had an idea for a Christmas present and because i knew of a book i could order with a 40% discount i told him that i wanted a special publication by Bernd and Hilla Becher / Hochofen. Published by Schirmer Mosel in 2002 in an edition of only 100 copies containing a beautiful original photograph of a row of Furnaces.

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These industrial scenes are typical for the Bechers and because of these scenes of Industrial complexes and lonely rural buildings. their photography is highly recognizable. The photograph i own is one of the most cherished works i have in my collection. It is not the value which makes it special , but the idea that it was one of the last gifts my father gave me. Since i have been collecting Becher items and one of the best i found was a poster , published by the Josef Albers Museum in 2010 and available at www.ftn-books.com

becher cata a

Posted on 04.01.201811.02.2018 by ftnbooks — 1 Comment

Peter Nadas (1942) ….a photographer

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I did not know it because i only know Nadas from his Photography exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum for which an impressive small catalogue was published , but when i looked for the biography on Nadas i noticed that he foremost is known for his writing during the last 3 decades. It is now clear to me that this is the reason why so few books with his photography have been published during his life until now. Still his photography was done in the tradition of his Hungarian countrymen. For example Kertesz must have been a great influence on the photography by Nadas. The book on offer with www.ftn-books.com ( Kindred Spirits) was published on the occasion of the Peter Nadas exhibition in the Fotomuseum Den Haag/2004, in which the qualities of his photographs were shown. Nadas is known as a writer, but these photographs show that he has 2 artistic sides. Beside being a writer …..the other side is definitely being a great photographer.

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Posted on 31.12.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Tracey Moffatt (1960)….. from Australia!

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There are not many Australian artist ( born in Brisbane) who have become known for their works outside Australia, but Tracey Moffatt is certainly one of them and build a reputation in the nineties as one of the most prommissing photographers. If you ask me to describe her works i would say it is a cross between Cindy Sherman and Erwin Olaf , possibly influenced by both but also original and a very gifted photographer/ video artist. I will show you some examples so you see what i mean.( left is Moffatt)

moffatt

sherman

Still…. i like her works and therefore i have collected some books at www.ftn-books.com which are for sale.

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Here is an impression of the presentation she gave at the Venice Biennale 2017

Posted on 17.12.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Hendrik Kerstens ( 1956 )

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Today i added a book on Hendrik Kerstens to my inventory. At first glance you see a classic portrait , but when you follow his works through several decades, you note 3 elements in the photograph. The model is in most cases Paula, his daughter , who progresses in age, and looks when getting older ….more and more like a “dutch Golden Age” figure by Johannes Vermeer. Secondly the props within the photograph ( mainly hats ) are common household items. Blankets, plastic bags, empty tin cans ….all have a function within the portrait. Modern elements making a classic portrait of a beautiful woman. Hendrik Kerstens is now also represented in the US and his name as an important dutch photographer is now established among the great dutch photographers from his generation.

‘HENDRIK KERSTENS DID NOT TRAIN FORMALLY AS AN ARTIST. HOWEVER, HE WISHED TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO A MORE CREATIVE PROFESSION AND IN 1995, AT THE AGE OF FORTY, HE LEFT THE BUSINESS WORLD AND TOOK UP PHOTOGRAPHY. HIS WIFE ANNA WORKED FULL TIME TO SUPPORT THIS CHANGE OF DIRECTION. IN A REVERSAL OF MORE TRADITIONAL ROLES, KERSTENS CARED FOR THEIR YOUNG DAUGHTER PAULA, WHILE ALSO STUDYING PHOTOGRAPHY DURING THE DAY. HAVING A CHILD LEFT A DEEP IMPRESSION ON KERSTENS. THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY, HE EXPLORED THE ACCOMPANYING FEELINGS OF RESPONSIBILITY, VULNERABILITY AND LOVE HE FELT TOWARDS HIS DAUGHTER, STARTING WITH DOCUMENTARY FAMILY SNAPSHOTS.
AS PAULA PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY GREW, KERSTENS SEARCHED FOR AN ARTISTIC MANIFESTATION OF THESE CHANGES, LEADING TO HIS INTERPRETATIONS OF THE GREAT DUTCH MASTER PAINTERS OF THE 17TH CENTURY WITH PAULA AS HIS MUSE.’

EXCERPT FROM AN ESSAY BY MARTIN BARNES, VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON

this book is now availabel at www.ftn-books.com

Posted on 04.12.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Cindy Sherman (1954). . the perfect selfie

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It wasn’t to difficult to find a good portrait of Cindy Sherman on Google, because every picture by Cindy Sherman features …Cindy Sherman. So before the craze of the selfie photography , Sherman already made “perfect” selfies, every time staged in a different setting.

She has become world famous with these photographs and had in the Netherlands on several occasions exhibitions, including the retrospective in the Boymans van Beuningen, which catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com

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One exception is that at one time in her career she wasn’t present in het photographs. In 1992 Sherman embarked on a series of photographs now referred to as “Sex Pictures.” For the first time, Sherman is entirely absent from these photographs. Instead, she again uses dolls and prosthetic body parts, this time posed in highly sexual poses. Prosthetic genitalia – both male and female – are used often and photographed in extreme close-up. Photographed exclusively in color, these photographs are meant to shock. Sherman continued to work on these photographs for some time and continued to experiment with the use of dolls and other replacements for what had previously been herself.

When i looked closely at these photographs i found a great resemblance with the POUPEE photographs by Hans Bellmer. I might be wrong, but because of this resemblance i find this series much less interesting than the photographs with Sherman in them.

Posted on 28.11.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Nat Finkelstein (1933-2009)..The Warhol/Factory photographer

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His claim to fame was that Nat Finkelstein was the house photographer of the FACTORY. The complex which housed the studios of Andy Warhol.

(The Factory was Andy Warhol’s New York City studio, which had three different locations between 1962 and 1984. The original Factory was on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was one hundred dollars per year.^[1] Warhol left in 1967 when the building was scheduled to be torn down to make way for an apartment building. He then relocated his studio to the sixth floor of the Decker Building at 33 Union Square West near the corner of East 16th Street, where he was shot in 1968 by Valerie Solanas. The Factory was revamped and remained there until 1973. It moved to 860 Broadway at the north end of Union Square. Although this space was much larger, not much filmmaking took place there. In 1984 Warhol moved his remaining ventures, no longer including filming, to 22 East 33rd Street, a conventional office building)

In September 1962 Finkelstein was commissioned by Pageant magazine to do an article on the emerging Pop Art movement. The article was titled “What happens at a Happening?” it covered a Claes Oldenburg “happening” in Greenwich Village and was a break that would define his future. Two years later, while attending a party at the Factory, Finkelstein met Warhol, who had seen his photographs of Oldenburg’s “happening” in Pageant. Finkelstein offered his services as a photographer to the artist, and for the next three years he was a constant presence at the Factory. His iconic images of the include subjects such as the Velvet Underground performing live, Marcel Duchamp, Bob Dylan, Edie Sedgwick, Salvador Dalí, and Allen Ginsberg.

There are some nice Finkelstein and Warhol publications available at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 09.11.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Ilona Staller..La Cicciolina and Jeff Koons

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Yesterday, i held a catalogue of a Jeff Koons exhibition in my hands and it reminded me that Koons at one time in his life was married to Ilona Staller . Staller known for her (soft) porn movies in those days must have been the ultimate muse for Koons , because in the years he was married to La Cicciolina (1991-1994)

he made several photo series with Staller in which he exposed himself and Ilona in erotic interaction. The series was shown in the Stedelijk Museum during the Jeff Koons exhibition, but it was one of the few occasions where it was shown, because on many occasions this series was forbidden.