CHIC CLICKS - Creativity and Commerce in Contemporary Fashion Photography
Prof. Frank Schumacher stellt vom 23. Januar bis zum 05. Mai 02 mit seinem Partner Tom Lingnau am Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston aktuelle Fotoarbeiten aus.
Im Sommer wird die Ausstellung im Fotomuseum Winterthur/Schweiz gezeigt.
The Institute of Contemporary Art, located at 955 Boylston Street in Boston, is open Wednesday and Friday, noon 5 p.m.; Thursday, noon 9 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. 5 p.m. Admission is $6 adults, $4 seniors and students, and free for members and children under 12. Admission is free on Thursdays, 9 p.m. For more information, call 617-266-5152 or visit
THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART OPENS MAJOR EXHIBITION EXPLORING CONTEMPORARY FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY IN JANUARY
Forty of todays most celebrated photographers will present both their independent, personal work as well as published photo editorials from fashion magazines and advertising campaigns in the first exhibition
CHIC CLICKS - Creativity and Commerce in Contemporary Fashion Photography will open on January 23 and remain on view through May 5, 2002.
The contrasts between the exploratory and commercial aspects of fashion photography initiate a critical debate of what constitutes art and fashion in an increasingly commercialized art world, says Jill
Medvedow, James Sachs Plaut Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity for the participating photographers to present both sides of their work and to show how they balance creative aesthetics with the need to create
commercially relevant imagery.
The representation of fashion in the exhibition has two distinct origins on the one hand, as seen in the work of photographers who are well known for their commercial fashion work, and on the other, those who have gained prominence in the field of fine art and subsequently
were asked to work for fashion companies and magazines. Many commercial photographers have not exhibited their personal work in a museum; this work frequently presents a surprising contrast to their published photographs. In contrast, the artists in the exhibition employ their distinctive style for the commercial work they do, presenting fashion in
a new context.
For example, the artist Cindy Sherman, who is known for her representations of female personas, is represented both by her series Fashion (1983/84), which presents clothing not merely as a social sign
but also as a fashionable commodity, and with work from a decade later for the progressive Japanese fashion company Comme des Garcons that uses
a technique similar to the Fashion series. The self-quotation of her earlier work was ironically defused in the fashion editorial by clown-like make-up and gestures, pseudo-Japanese references, and
over-the-top avantgarde garments by the Tokyo designer Rei Kawakubo. In comparison, the Brazilian-born fashion photographer Marcelo Krasilcic
refers to his personal work in a much more direct manner for fashion campaigns. His recent images for Ruffo Research in Milan, which will be included in Chic Clicks, feature models in front of what seem like
strangely theatrical backdrops. In fact, these backdrops are blown-up photographs, taken by the artist in his free time, of bourgeois residences in Sao Paulo. Here, the private environment of the artist
literally provides the background for his professional work.
The exhibition space deliberately separates the two types of photographs; the commercial work is exhibited on the ground floor and the personal work is shown on the second floor. This layout acknowledges the distinctions between creative and commercial photography. Yet, more importantly, by including the same photographers in each section, the exhibition highlights how fashion and art photography influence one another. On the mezzanine level of the ICA, visitors can browse the latest cutting-edge art and fashion magazines, such as Dutch, Visionaire, and self service, in a fashion lounge. The emergence of
these independent and progressive fashion magazines from the mid-to-late 1980s has been influential in bringing fashion photography and contemporary art increasingly close together.
Dr. Ulrich Lehman, senior lecturer and postdoctoral research fellow at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, and the author of Tigersprung: Fashion and Modernity, is the guest curator of the exhibition. The
exhibition is accompanied by a 250-page fully illustrated color catalogue that will document the work in the exhibition and address the issues raised by the ever-increasing correspondence between art and
fashion. The catalogue, co-published by the ICA and Hatje Cantz, Germany, includes essays by Gilles Lipovetsky, Professor of Philosophy, Grenoble; Olivier Zahm, Editor and Publisher of Purple Magazine, Paris;
Urs Stahel, Director, Fotomuseum, Winterthur; Annelie Lutgens, Chief Curator, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg; and Ulrich Lehmann. After opening at the ICA, the exhibition will travel to Winterthur Fotomuseum, Switzerland (June 14 - August 18, 2002).
Complete List of Photographers included in the Exhibition:
Fred Aufray
Laetitia Benat
Anuschka Blommers & Niels Schum
Koto Bolofo
Mark Borthwick
Jean-FranÁois Carly
Alex Cayley
Banu Cennetoglu
Donald Christie
Phillipe Cometti
Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Corinne Day
Horst Diekgerdes
Anders Edström
Alexei Hay
Takashi Homma
Mikael Jansson
Marcelo Krasilcic
Christophe Kutner
Tom Lingnau & Frank Schumacher
Glen Luchford
Richard Prince
Dmon Pruner
Blaise Reuterswärd
Terry Richardson
Satoshi Saikusa
Jimo Salako
Luis Sanchis
Collier Schorr
Cindy Sherman
David Simms
Antonio Spinoza
Larry Sultan
Iké Udé
Javier Vallhonrat
Jonathan de Villiers
Matthias Vriens
Erwin Wurm