Month: September 2021
Paris Photo 2021
Pioneers
DANIEL BLAU is pleased to present four special exhibitions at Paris Photo 2021, covering three centuries of photographic history.
Dating back to the middle of the nineteenth century, our earliest items were created by photographic pioneer Louis Alphonse Poitevin, a man whose life’s work enriched both the artistic and the technological development of the young art form. Through years of chemical experimentation he devised a procedure allowing him to print and distribute his images in mass‑market books. Having grasped the potential of photographic images as a form of mass media at a very early stage in the history of photography, Poitevin finds himself spoken of today alongside his colleagues Daguerre and Niépce, one of the “troisième homme de la photographie”.
The outstanding examples of his work that Daniel Blau is presenting at Paris Photo are noteworthy for their technical mastery within their historical context, their remarkable attention to detail, and their pure artistic value.
A catalogue of Alphonse Poitevin’s works is being published to accompany this exhibition.
The second exhibition we will show at Paris Photo is a collection of original vintage NASA prints. Works include remarkable photographs from a range of twentieth century space missions, notably the Apollo XI moon landing in 1969 as well as the earlier Apollo VIII mission, which successfully orbited the moon before returning to Earth. The ‘Earthrise’ photographs of our planet taken from space are among the most beautiful and affecting of those from the space programmes Striking color photographs from Voyager missions to the outer reaches of our solar system feature the vivid details of Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s red spot. We will also show the first color photo taken on Mars, produced by NASA’s Viking Lander. Accompanying the NASA pictures are photos from the Soviet Zond programme – a series of robotic spacecraft launched between 1964 and 1970. Originally created for purposes of documentation and scientific enquiry, these pictures are now valued for their artistic merits as well as their historical significance.
The third exhibition we will be presenting at Paris Photo 2021 is a collection of rare photographs focusing on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. These images speak to one of the most devastating military decisions in history, from both a Japanese and an American perspective. Yosuke Yamahata’s photographs of August 9, 1945
offer us a unique fi rsthand insight into a city’s total destruction, and the fate of the men and women who lived through it. This exhibition is also being accompanied by a publication.
A true highlight of our offerings this year is twin set of contemporary photographs from Blau Gallery’s own Sofia Valiente, the winner of Daniel Blau’s young photographers 5 Under 30 competition in 2015. Her projects “Miracle Village” and “Foreverglades” are accompanied by photo books available at our booth. For “Miracle Village,” the artist lived among registered sex offenders in a rural Florida community. Her report from that time includes photographs
and handwritten testimonies from the residents. “Foreverglades” brings stories from the Florida Everglades and the state’s pioneer past to new light. Sofia’s work has been featured in publications including Time, The Guardian, El Mundo, Vice and American Photo Magazine, and has been exhibited in London, New York and Paris. In 2015, she received the World Press Photo award for “Miracle Village” (1st prize, portraits, stories), the South Florida Cultural Consortium Artist Fellowship, and Burn Magazine’s Young Talent Award. “Miracle Village” and “Foreverglades” are also accompanied by a booklet.
NEW LOCATION !!
PARIS PHOTO
Grand Palais Ephemere
Champs de Mars
75007 Paris
Booth B14
Fair Dates:
Vernissage:
Wednesday,
November 10, 2021
11 pm – 9 pm
Public Opening:
Thursday,
November 11 – 14, 2021
Opening Hours:
Daily: 12 am to 8 pm
Blau Bulletin #1
Many galleries are defined by the world around them, the circumstances they find themselves surrounded by. An environment rich in artistic creation might be the essential factor – consider London in the ‘80s and ‘90s, for instance. Lucio Amelio – already at this point deathly ill – put it to me this way: “A gallery is one head.” Well then, the gallery reflects my interests, and my interests are manifold.
Until January 2020, the rhythms of trade fair and exhibition dictated how decisions were made in our field – what commercial themes needed foregrounding, when publishing literature on those topics made the most sense. Many subjects close to my own heart have been put on hold for decades due to simple lack of time; it took a dozen years to do justice to Poitevin. The project I envisioned seemed too complex and commercially unviable.
When my dealings with 19th century photography first began intensifying, what astonished me perhaps more than anything was – in comparison to contemporary art – how low the monetary value assigned to it was. Only few photographs commanded a genuinely high price, and the stock was treated accordingly – some were even priced by weight! When the selection is as large as it is, it can be difficult for an avid collector to concentrate. And when one already has all the possibilities of collection in general in mind, the field of possibilities and interest areas becomes truly immeasurable. And everywhere is something to discover.
Once the government-imposed restrictions of 2020 interrupted the cycle of fair and exhibition, and it became clear that there would be no opportunity of live, public presentation and interaction for any of us, we began searching for the necessary alternatives. I myself felt a desire to better understand and more clearly delineate our program – that is to say, the direction of the gallery at large. The result was our emailed bulletin of the last year. Each issue has begun with a single topic, which it expands upon and explores.
Here, our intention is above all to spark and develop interest among the ‘younger’ generations. Ours is a moment of rampant superficiality and weak concentration; we hope to raise the curtain a little, to expose the endless possibilities of the artistic gaze. If only one or two young people find a fire awoken in them through our little pandemic-year project, that alone will have made this a success.
Photographs and drawings are obvious partners for the digital medium of the computer and internet. My own personal interests have always been widely strewn, and not always easily translated into the context and requirements of a gallery space, even if only from a purely commercial perspective. Nevertheless I have always sought to infect others with these passions. Our bulletin has proven remarkably well-suited, as a format, for this purpose.
We invite you to to take a little stroll with us now, through our gallery’s program and far beyond, to find inspiration and new perspectives in things great and small. It is a vast field of artistry before us, and we look forward to exploring it with you.
Editor:
Daniel Blau
Maximilianstr. 26
80539 Munich
ISBN: 978-3-7774-3747-7
Limited Edition of 3000
Published 2021
Copyright: this publication © Daniel Blau, Munich
Text: Katharina Rohmeder, Carrie Foulkes
Layout: Christiane Wunsch
Editing/Translation: Robert Isaf
Order your copy exclusivly here: contact@danielblau.com
+49 89 29 73 42