Oliver Mark
dal 17/10/2012 al 16/11/2012
Segnalato da
17/10/2012
Oliver Mark
Clair Galerie, Munich
Shuteye. The German photographer plays with masquerade and dreams in his images creating an impressive closeness to the people portrayed.
Stanley Kubrick called his last film EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) a game of deception between illusion and reality, a sort of mantling and dismantling based on Schnitzler's "Dream Story".
Similarly, the German photographer Oliver Mark (born in 1963 in Gelsenkirchen) plays with masquerade and dreams in his images creating an impressive closeness to the people portrayed. Stars like Cate Blanchett, Mia Farrow and Will Smith are staging dreams in front of Marks camera as if suggested by the photographer.
Mark names his exhibition Shuteye, where Kubrick's colleagues Spike Lee, Lars von Trier and Wes Anderson can be seen with their eyes shut, seemingly sleeping or dreaming. It comes as no surprise, since Mark often portrays famous people, amongst them artists like Louise Bourgois and Jörg Immendorf who don't like to be in front of the camera.
Oliver Mark's portfolio is not limited to portraits - it is impressive in its variety. In his exhibition Shuteye - first shown in the Munich based gallery °CLAIR - Oliver Mark also shows spaces like Schiller's study in Weimar or the deserted sanatorium in Beelitz, which strangely correspond to an image of an apartment in Berlin with a "magazine" look.
For over 15 years now, Mark has been a photographer for major print media such as Stern, Zeit Magazin, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Vogue, Weltkunst and others.
In his work he has often shown well-known faces in fresh poses. Each photograph is an expression of the mutual respect - a balancing act - between the visual artist and the VIP. Each shooting is meticulously prepared by Mark. In this manner, 700 photographs of influential people of our time have been created so far.
Oliver Mark, who received his first camera at the age of nine as a gift, also gives lectures and workshops for the German Bundespresseamt and the Fachhochschule Hannover.
His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, recently at, 18 Hours a Day, Kreuzberg Pavillon - 100 Days in Kassel“ as well as at Art Paris. In 2011, for the first time Oliver Mark curated an exhibition („Der arge Weg der Erkenntnis“, Berlin). In 2009, a monograph on his work was published by Hatje Cantz. Oliver Mark lives in Berlin.
Image: Oliver Mark, Schlafende Ariadne, Berlin 2001
Opening: October 18th 2012, 7 pm
Clair Galerie
Franz-Joseph-Str. 10
Wed-Sat 3-7pm and by appointment
Free Admission