20/4/2007
Mona Kuhn
M+B, Los Angeles
Less than Innocent. Kuhn weaves together gestures from the traditional iconography of nude studies with the comfortable body language of her subjects, creating a visual patois at once classical and contemporary.
Less than Innocent
M+B is pleased to announce our first exhibition of new
photographs by Mona Kuhn entitled Less than Innocent. The exhibition
accompanies the release of her second monograph Evidence, published
by Steidl and available this Spring.
Internationally recognized for her alluring renderings of human form,
Kuhn weaves together gestures from the traditional iconography of
nude studies with the comfortable body language of her subjects,
creating a visual patois at once classical and contemporary. Beneath
the mellow surfaces of her photographs lies an explosive energy: the
artist's controlled play with the power of sensuality. The subjects
and their gestures are suggestive but ultimately ambiguous. Tenuously
held planes of focus lure the eye and provoke the imagination.
Although her models are nude, there is an underlying assertion of
clothing; they are always protected by their own skin. “Kuhn’s
matter of fact approach to the human body is not unlike that of Larry
Sultan in his San Fernando Valley photographs although these results
are more wholesome because of the absence of sexual overtones,”
states curator Gordon Baldwin. “Muted sexual undercurrents are
perhaps inevitable in gatherings of unclothed men and women of this
age.” Baldwin has contributed an essay to Evidence, her forthcoming
and second monograph from Steidl. The photographs in the book are
also accompanied by a short story by the acclaimed writer of Tintin
in the New World, Frederic Tuten. In his characteristically
meditative and mosaic prose, Tuten complements and brings fullness to
the bareness of Kuhn’s subject matter. In “Self Portrait with
Beach,” he explores the complex undercurrents and sexual tensions of
human relations.
Mona Kuhn was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1969, of German descent.
She earned her degrees in the United States from both The Ohio State
University and the San Francisco Art Institute. Since 1998 she has
been an independent studies scholar at the Getty Research Institute,
Los Angeles, California. Her work was nominated for the 2006 Prix
Photographique BMW—ParisPhoto Award and has been shown in numerous
solo and group exhibitions internationally, as well as in the United
States. The images appearing in Evidence were photographed entirely
in France, where she resides each summer. Currently, Mona Kuhn lives
and works in Los Angeles.
Reception for the Artist: Saturday, April 21, 7-9pm
M+B
612 N Almont Drive - Los Angeles
Gallery Hours: Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm and by appt
Free admission