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16/6/2004

William Klein

Photo Museum - FoMu, Antwerp

Retrospective
Photographies & Films

Photographer, painter, film-maker and graphic designer William Klein is one of the most controversial and influential artists of the 20th century. He was born in 1928 and grew up in Manhattan. After his secondary schooling and 2 years in the US Army he went to Paris, where he still lives and works today. He started his long career as a painter. Klein studied briefly with Fernand Leger and made hard-edge, geometrical paintings before he started experimenting with photography.

Alexander Liberman, the art director of Vogue, saw an exhibition of Klein's photographs in Paris and immediately offered him a contract. Klein could now experiment to his heart's content. His improvised technique defied the existing taboos of the medium. The use of a wide angle lens, coarse grain, high contrast, blur, frog perspective, 'accidents' and other techniques gave his work an unrivalled sense of dynamism and intensity.

His first book, Life is Good and Good For You in New York: Trance Witness Revels was published in France in 1956 and won the Prix Nadar for its innovative photography. Other photo books made and published by Klein are: Rome, 1958-9; Moscow, 1961 and Tokyo in 1962. To finance these projects and his personal work, he created for Vogue a new sort of fashion photography which clearly betrays the influence of reportage photography. In 1958 he embarked on his career as film-maker with Broadway By Light. This was followed by a whole string of ground-breaking films, such as Who are You, Polly Maggoo? and Mister Freedom. Messiah, his most recent film, was released in 1999.

William Klein's earlier and contemporary work is recognised worldwide. His photographs are included in large public and private collections and exhibited in museums and galleries in Europe, the United States and Japan. Recently he was awarded the Gold Medal for Photography. Almost every photographer is influenced by Klein's work. He has written photography history, not only with the length and breadth of his career but also with his innovative imagery.

The PhotoMuseum of the Province of Antwerp is therefore delighted to be able to place its new wing at the disposal of this versatile artist. Klein has ploughed through his impressive archive and made his own, stirring selection. The exhibition offers a highly personal retrospective on Klein's own work, spanning a 50-year career. Thus, a number of series are shown that are no less than trendsetters (Moscow, New York,...), alongside posters and first editions of his most remarkable publications.

In close collaboration with the Film Museum, the PhotoMuseum will also be showing many of Klein's films, including Muhammad Ali The Greatest, 1964-74; Who are You, Polly Maggoo?, 1966; Far From Vietnam, 1967; Mister Freedom, 1968; The Panafrican Festival, 1969; Eldrigde Cleaver, Black Panther, 1970; The Little Richard Story, 1980; The French, 1981; Mode in France, 1986; In and Out of Fashion, 1993; and Messiah, 1999. The exact dates of the shows will be specified in the Film Museum's programme leaflet for the month of June and can also be found on the PhotoMuseum's website, www.fotomuseum.be.

To tie in with the exhibition, a special issue of the PhotoMuseum Magazine will be published, containing a 46-page portfolio of Klein, designed by himself, and supplemented with an in-depth interview by Eric Daviron.

Curators: Roger Szmulewicz and Christoph Ruys

Press conference: 16 June 2004, 11 a.m.

Opening: 17 June, 8 p.m. in the presence of the photographer and the curators

Special event: 18 June 2004, 10.30 a.m. ? showing of the film Who are You, Polly Maggoo? introduced by William Klein and followed by a signing session.

FIFTY ONE FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY
ZIRKSTRAAT 20
2000 ANTWERPEN
BELGIUM
T:32-3-2898458
F:32-3-2898459
E-MAIL: 51@pandora.be
http://www.gallery51.com

Venue:
PhotoMuseum of the Province of Antwerp
Waalse Kaai 47
Antwerpen

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