Author: dblauadmin

October 5, 2016 — October 9, 2016

 

On the occasion of PAD’s 10th anniversary in London, Daniel Blau is pleased to present an eclectic selection of paintings and photographs.

 

Artists include: Andy Warhol, Alfred Jensen, Dan McCarthy, Christa Dichgans, Marc Quinn as well as a fine selection of vintage NASA prints from the Apollo XI mission.

 

All the works presented here show the artistic results of translating the power of imagination into pictures. From Warhol’s precise and inimitable lines, to McCarthy’s uncharacteristically light oil paintings all the way to the wonders of the moon landing – this show promises to inspire and awaken our senses.

 

Imagination from Latin imaginatio(n-), from the verb imaginari means to ‘picture to oneself ’, from ‘image’. Picture This! shows the powerful artistic and political powers of pictures – their ever-lasting effectiveness to capture their audiences and astound them with the condensed, yet distilled pictorial information we so greatly love.

 

Come and join us for this special 10th anniversary instalment of PAD in Berkeley Square, we look forward to welcoming you at our stand.

 

Please click here to download our Press Release.

 

October 6, 2016 — October 9, 2016

 

Daniel Blau is delighted to participate once more in the “Collections” section, curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal. This year’s selection promises a stunning juxtaposition of paintings by Eugène Leroy and poi (taro) pounders from the Pacific.

 

Eugène Leroy (1910 – 2000) was a French painter whose works were typically made over many years, where paint was gradually applied to the canvas to create these magnificently thick, expressive surfaces. His paintings show his life-long preoccupation with light – how light is captured not only through colour, but through layers of paint. His contemplation of light and form shows itself most when we closely examine the paintings. Leroy’s thick surfaces are the results of his painterly quest to investage light. Areas he was satisfied with were left ‘thinner’ than those he needed to develop, add, layer until his desired result was obtained. His subjects, often nudes, become almost indistinguishable amidst the material density created. Though he remained largely unrecognised until the 1980s, he was awarded the Grand Prix Nationale de la Peinture in 1996 and his paintings are held in numerous public collections.

 

We will show a range of works from the 1960s to 1990s. Poi pounders, or Penu in Tahitian, are characterised by their beautiful, pure and essential form. They are used for pounding cooked taro root (kalo) into poi, a main staple of the traditional Pacific, mostly Polynesian diet. Taro root was steamed in an imu (earth oven), peeled with a shell scraper, and placed on a wooden pounding board to be mashed with the stone pounder. Most have been skilfully crafted from fine basalt or coral rock and sometimes show elaboration and embellishments on their handles such as carvings of humans and animals. The exquisite selection of 15 – 20 pounders we will exhibit at this year’s Frieze Masters has been collected over the last 30 years.

 

They are magnificent examples of how form follows function. The poi pounders are as equally utilitarian as they are evocative and sculptural.

 

Weegeee (1899 – 1968)

 

Rarely have photographers’ careers been as celebrated and honored as Weegee’s. Equally illustrious and renowned as his pictures was Weegee‘s persona, which heralded him as the world’s most famous photographer. For most of his early career Weegee was unrelenting in capturing New York’s seemingly endless affairs. From the grandiose halls of the Metropolitan Opera House to the unsophisticated sanctuary of Sammy’s Bar, the congregation of inquisitive spectators to the abrupt silence of a gangland murder, Weegee navigated the labyrinth of New York’s streets, documenting its untold life.

 

For an intense decade between 1935 and 1946, Weegee was one of the most relentlessly inventive figures in American photography. Renowned for his ability to be at the scene before anyone else, he dominated the New York landscape. In his own mind, he was the only individual, a cigar wielding visual narrator, who could tell the story of this restless city.

 

In late 2012, Ryan Adams, a photojournalist expert, discovered the archive in a Midwest storage facility where it had been housed since its purchase in 1994. The following collaboration with Daniel Blau has resulted not only in the current presentation of vintage Weegee prints but also in the 2015 exhibition of early works by Margaret Bourke-White and the recent museum exhibition: Robert Capa – Kriegsfotografien 1943-1945 at the Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden. Many of the photographs were exhibited for the first time, or first recognized as works by these famous photographs.

 

Our researches even brought forward that Weegee was already working as a photographer in 1925. Finally Weegee’s photographs get the attention and fame they deserve in history of photography.

 

Selected recent exhibitions

 

2019
Weegee – The Famous, Oct 18, 2018 – Jan 20, 2019, Mai Manó House, Budapest, Hungary
 

2017
Extra!Weegee, Apr 07 – May 28, Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden

 

2015
Weegee by Weegee, Photographs from the Jean Pigozzi Collection, Sept 05 – Nov 08, The Baker Museum, Naples Florida, USA

 

2013
Weegee. Murder is My Business, May 02 – July 28, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia, Italy

 

2012
Weegee. Murder is My Business, Jan 20 – Sept 02, International Center of Photography, New York, USA

 

2006
Scene of the Crime, Sept 20, 2005 – Jan 22, 2006, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA

 
 

Selected publications

 

2017
Extra! Weegee, Hirmer Verlag

 

2014
The Weegee Guide to New York, Philomena Mariani and Christopher George

 

2013
Weegee: Murder Is My Business, Brian Wallis and Philomena Mariani

 

1978
Weegee Täter und Opfer, John Coplan

 

1945
Naked City, Weegee (Arthur Fellig)

June 16, 2016 — June 19, 2016

 

“All art is a revolt against man’s fate.”

 

From André Malraux, The Voices of Silence, 1953, Princeton: University Press, Reissued 1978, p. 639

 

 

Daniel Blau is pleased to present an enticing selection of “dirty pictures” at this year’s Art Basel.

 

Beginning with George Grosz (1893 – 1959), the penetrating draftsman whose acerbic wit created unique visions of the  Weimar Republic. His drawings show explicit sexual scenes between couples as well as daring ménages-à-trois. Stylistically, Grosz’s drawings are candid and expressive – every line is considered.  His pioneering style, subject-matter and technique lay the foundations for seminal artists of the 1960s such as de Kooning, Johns, Warhol and Rauschenberg.  These dirty pictures, exhibited here for the first time, offer a rare glimpse into Grosz’s intimate world. His work perfected the art of dissecting the insides of his own, as well as society’s soul.

 

Continuing with works on paper, this year’s exhibition will bring an equally exciting selection of Andy Warhol’s (1928 -1987) early Nude and Dick drawings that study the human form, providing us with unparalleled insight into the early career of one of the 20th century’s most important artists. These works on paper reveal a lesser-known side of  Warhol’s, one founded in European art history and reminiscent of early 20th century masters such as Schiele, Dix, Grosz, Klee and Klimt.

 

Furthermore we are proud to present a small selection of vintage, heavily retouched photographs that idealise their subject matter. Gouache and airbrush retouching was a technique used from the 1920s onwards, where editors would retouch prints directly in preparation for their wide-spread dissemination through the printing press. These prints are unique works that testify their handling and offer us visual clues to their ‘reproductive’ purpose. By bringing together fact and fiction these artworks are impressive results of the pictorial universe and its unquenchable thirst for PICTURES! Never meant to be seen – these works show exciting and different types of secret, “dirty pictures” they are a delightful combination of drawing and photography.

 

Nobuyoshi  Araki (*1940) is the Japanese photographer. He is perhaps best known for shooting naked girls in bondage or playing with a range of plastic dinosaurs and other toys. We present his work in a collection of polaroids showing flowers – innocent yet highly suggestive. Iconic, mythical, a medium in his own right , Araki’s art boldly shows life’s beauty and brutality with a remarkable directness. These polaroid pictures reflect his hallmark style which is deliberate, yet casual.  “Rather than shooting something that looks like a professional photograph, I want my work to feel intimate, like someone in the subject’s inner circle shot them”.  These unique pictures show the ephemeral nature of beauty and photography’s power in capturing it.

 

Click here to download our Press Release.

 

The Legacy of Andy Warhol is 2016’s major exhibition at Artipelag over the spring and summer period. Unlike traditional Warhol exhibitions, The Legacy of Andy Warhol is instead an attempt to broaden our understanding of his influence and legacy. Warhol’s footprint is not limited to his boundary-pushing art: he has also influenced our modern lifestyle and commercial areas.

This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see more of his works that have never before been shown in Sweden, including 40 sketches from the 1950s and the legendary video installation by Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.