29 February 2008 at 6pm
Peter Hujar is an important American photographer of the 1970s and early 1980s, whose work describes New York at a time when the city was financially impoverished but artistically rich.
Hujar started his career on the fringes of fashion photography and is best known for his black and white portraits of the New York avant-garde. He photographed his friends and members of his extended community in NYC, ranging from Andy Warhol and Susan Sontag to downtown artists and drag performers. Hujar’s subjects also include nudes, animals and the night time streets of Downtown Manhattan. Hujar’s work received little recognition during his lifetime, but he was an important influence on artists such as Nan Goldin and Robert Mapplethorpe, among others.
Joining us will be Kirsten Lloyd, Artistic Programmer of Stills, who will help us gain insight into who Peter Hujar was and what he saw through the lens of his camera. She will also show us round the new facilities at the Gallery.
29 May 2003 at 6pm
For this month’s Spin event, we are going to look at the dynamic portraits exhibition by Mario Testino. Our invited guest will be Glyn Davis, Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at Edinburgh College of Art, who will reflect upon the works in this spectacular and fashionable show.
Some of the questions we will consider in the show are;
Portraits, are they art or not?
How do we go about evaluating portraits of people in the public eye?
What are the different visual dialogues that occur within the show?
Mario Testino is one of fashion’s most-sought-after and charismatic photographers, whose name is synonymous with images of glamour, style and joie de vivre. Based in London, Testino travels extensively for international fashion magazines, whilst his work has been exhibited widely in Europe and Japan. Mario Testino: Portraits brings together over 100 photographs, in which he has captured contemporary celebrities from the worlds of fashion, film and music. His subjects include Robbie Williams, Catherine Zeta Jones, Liz Hurley, Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, as well as Diana, Princess of Wales, photographed shortly before her death in 1997. Much of the fascination of his work lies in today’s cult of celebrity, youth, and a particular ideal of beauty.
