THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF BRETT WESTON

Posted on 2011-10-03

This exhibition celebrates the career of Brett Weston (1911-1993). The son of famed American photographer Edward Weston (1886-1958), Brett Weston was a “natural” with the camera. After serving as his father’s apprentice, Brett was a teenager when he first received high-level, international recognition as an artist.

Over his long and prolific career, Brett Weston exemplified the modernist aesthetic. He used the medium in a resolutely “purist” manner: his preference was always for sharp lenses and beautifully modulated black-and-white prints. He applied this technical precision to a sustained exploration of the idea of abstraction. In recording the details of everyday things, rocks, plants, trees, water, peeled paint, the human figure. Weston sought to balance fact and form, objective reality and the beauty of abstraction. Through the graphic language of form, Weston aimed to suggest the deeper possibilities, and mysteries, of familiar things.

Exhibition runs from November 23rd 2011 to March 25th, 2012

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street
Kansas City
MO
64111

www.nelson-atkins.org

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MICHAEL KENNA – VENEZIA

Posted on 2011-10-03

Michael Kenna’s work has often been described as enigmatic, graceful and hauntingly beautiful. The exhibition features 53 black and white images that demonstrate a skilled photographer’s ability to capture on film what we cannot see with our eyes, such as the movement of time and the presence of atmosphere.

Kenna has captured the essence of Venice, its romance, its miraculous existence and its crumbling beauty. Kenna’s long exposures, sometimes lasting several hours during the darkest hours of the night, smooth over the surfaces of the canals, further emphasizing their street-like function in this floating city. With typically meticulous prints, Kenna distills Venice to its iconic, elemental characteristics of water and light.

Opposite – Winged Lion, San Marco, Venice, Italy, 2006

Exhibition runs through to May 22nd, 2012

Columbia Museum Of Art
1515 Main Street
Columbia
SC
29201

www.columbiamuseum.org

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AVEDON – PARIS

Posted on 2011-10-03

The photographs in this exhibition were selected by Avedon in 1978 for the portfolio Avedon/Paris, on the eve of a retrospective exhibition of his fashion work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They depict celebrated beauties in high fashion, including Marlene Dietrich in Dior, Dorian Leigh in Piguet, and Suzy Parker in Lanvin-Castillo. These photographs exemplify Avedon’s innovative style during his earliest creative peak: his models are full of expression, smiling, laughing, and posed in action in the City of Light. Appearing in Harper’s Bazaar at the height of its influence, his photographs were instrumental in changing the popular understanding of fashion. Indeed, their influence still resonates in the fashion magazines of today.

Opposite – Renée, The New Look of Dior, Paris, August 1947

Exhibition runs through to December 17th, 2011

Gagosian Gallery
19 place de Longemalle
1204
Geneva

www.gagosian.com

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