Annie Leibovitz: A Photographers Life, 1990-2005 at Maison Européenne de la Photographie |
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| Written by Terry Rhyne |
| Monday, 15 February 2010 20:53 |
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 “Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005 features many of Leibovitz’s best-known portraits of public figures, including actors such as Jamie Foxx, Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt; athletes preparing for the 1996 Olympic Games; George W. Bush with members of his Cabinet at the White House; and her famous 1991 image of then-pregnant actress Demi Moore, one of the most recognizable photographs of its time”, said Paul Roth, Corcoran curator of photography and media arts. The show also highlights images of artists and architects such as Richard Avedon, Brice Marden, Philip Johnson and Cindy Sherman. Leibovitz’s assignment work includes reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s, the election of Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate, and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The artist has photographed landscapes from the American West, the Jordanian desert and the wilds of upstate New York, and these are featured prominently. At the heart of the exhibition, Leibovitz’s personal photography documents intimate moments, work, and travels with writer Susan Sontag; the birth and childhood of her three daughters; and vacations, reunions and rites of passage with her parents and extended family. Edited and designed by the artist, the exhibition is a heartfelt memorial elegizing Sontag and Leibovitz’s father Samuel, who died six weeks apart in late 2004 and early 2005. Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990–2005 threads together the two sides of Leibovitz’s work both chronologically and creatively, projecting a narrative of the artist’s private life against the backdrop of her public image as one of America’s best-known celebrity photographers. Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005 was organized by the Brooklyn Museum and debuted there in 2006 before an international tour that includes stops at the San Diego Museum of Art, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, San Francisco’s de Young Museum, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris and London’s National Portrait Gallery. Charlotta Kotik, the Brooklyn Museum’s John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art, is the exhibition curator.  Annie Leibovitz has photographed figures from American popular culture since the early 1970s, when her work began appearing in Rolling Stone. She became the magazine’s chief photographer in 1973 and, 10 years later, began working for Vanity Fair, and then Vogue. In addition to her magazine work, Leibovitz has created influential advertising campaigns for American Express, Gap, Givenchy, the Milk Board and the television show The Sopranos. A touring retrospective of her work from the years 1970 to 1990 was presented in 1991 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The Corcoran Gallery of Art premiered her popular traveling exhibition Women in 1999. Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors, including the rank of Commandeur in the French government’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Barnard College Medal of Distinction. She was named a Library of Congress Living Legend in 2000 and one of the 35 “Innovators of Our Time” by Smithsonian magazine in 2005.Maison Européenne de la Photographie is a magnificent mansion built in 1706 in the heart of the Marais area of Paris, the Hôtel Henault de Cantobre was transformed during the last century into a vast exhibition space, dedicated to contemporary photography. It contains a collection of 12,000 works that reflect contemporary photography's historical evolution from the 1960's to the present day. Past displays include works of William Klein, Cartier-Besson, Weegee and, Pierre and Gilles. Visitors are free to use the museum's library, video library, research centre and restoration workshop Visit Maison Européenne de la Photographie at : www.mep-fr.org/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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