INDIVIDUALS: 20 PORTRAITS FROM THE GAP COLLECTION

Tuesday, 16 January 2007 07:59

London - Born as a small clothes shop on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco in 1969, ‘the Gap’ expanded to become the number one retail shop in America with over three thousand outlets worldwide.  In 1988, the company launched the latest of its advertising campaigns – ‘Individuals of Style’ – bold black and white photographs of famous faces wearing Gap items, combined with their own clothes to create a portrait of each individual’s personal style.  Using the world’s leading photographers and now shot occasionally in color, the campaign continues today.

Coinciding with the Face of Fashion exhibition, this display brings together 20 stunning portraits from the Gap collection and the new book, Individuals.  On exhibition 12 February – 28 May 2007 at the National Portrait Gallery.

The full list of ‘Individuals’ featured in the display is as follows: Anjelica Houston and Robert Graham by Christian Wilkin, 2002; Cecilia Chancellor with her son Lucas by Mikael Jansson, 2002; Chuck Close self portrait, 1993; Dominick Dunne by Albert Watson, 1991; Heather Graham by Gus Van Gant, Jr., 1993; Isabella Rossellini by Steven Meisel, 1993; Jim Dine by Matthew Rolston, 1990; Joan Didion and daughter by Annie Leibovitz, 1989; Joss Stone by Michael Thompson, 2005; Julianne Moore by Walter Chin, 1999; Madonna by Regan Cameron, 2002; Mia Farrow by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, 2006; Missy Eliot by Regan Cameron, 2002; Naomi Campbell by Steven Meisel, 1992; Patricia and Rosanna Arquette by Christian Wilkin, 2002; Sarah Jane Hoare by Herb Ritts, 1989; Sharon Stone by Albert Watson, 1992; Stella Tennant by David Sims, 1996; Veronica Webb by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, 2006; William Burroughs by Herb Ritts, 1991.

Anticipating the great shift towards celebrity endorsement in advertising, the campaign reads like a who’s who of the arts world for the past twenty years, featuring the great names from film, fine art, literature and music.  Given its beginnings in 1960s San Francisco, the counter-cultural leanings of the list are easily apparent, with big names like Madonna, Missy Elliott and Joss Stone sitting alongside the likes of beat novelist William Burroughs, investigative journalist Dominick Dunne and controversial American pop artist, Jim Dine.

The National Portrait Gallery’s selection of twenty portraits from the portfolio explores Gap’s perceptive choice of personalities, the range of leading photographers who contributed: Annie Leibovitz, Steven Meisel, Herb Ritts and Albert Watson, among them; and not least, Gap’s canny realization that fashion needs a face to appeal to the public.

Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, says ‘Since launching the ‘Individuals of Style’ campaign,  Gap has amassed an outstanding portfolio of portraits, chronicling personalities from the worlds of fashion, art, literature, film and music.  From this portfolio the Gallery has chosen twenty great portraits representing some of the world’s greatest photographers.’

Face of Fashion, the first major exhibition to look at portraiture in fashion photography, looking at the work of Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, Corinne Day, Steven Klein, Paolo Roversi and Mario Sorrenti, runs from 15 Feb – 28 May 2007.

Visit the National Portrait Gallery Website: www.npg.org.uk