New York Legs. Tommy Agriodimas

Legs over the city, legs on the stairs, legs in the bushes – inspired by Guy Bourdin, Tommy Agriodimas’s independent new project “Legs” seeks to capture just those in new and strange settings. As a fashion photographer, Agriodimas has found himself in a number of unusual situations where the opportunity to create a strangely beautiful image presented itself.  He’s captured these provocative parts jutting, stretching, and kicking out of any number of surprising backdrops.   We caught up with him via e-mail with a few questions on the Legs project. Read the rest of this entry »

Lux 11 Berlin. Behind Closed Doors

It all began 3 years ago when Henrik Pfeifer working on a photoshoot for a magazine.  The location? Berlin, Lux 11’s room 308.  Fast-forward to present day and the release of Pfeifer’ s book, simply titled “Room 308.”

During the original magazine shoot, Pfeifer recognized the unique qualities of the room.  Beams of sunlight reached through the space, the TV tower at Alexanderplatz loomed outside windows, just beyond typical East German architecture.  A concept was born.  He wanted to do more than a traditional book of portraits and nudes and that he did.  The resulting book is a colourful mix of friends, celebrities, models, and actors. Communication with his subjects was essential to the project and is evidenced by the intimate moments captured by Pfeifer’s lens.  Whether the subject shaving, jumping, or stretching nude across the bed, mundane moments are authentically  presented in a space that exudes Berlin charm.

The hardcover book is 144 pages and is available on Pfeifer’s website.  Signed copies are still available, but may not be for long.  Why not book a weekend to create your own version of personal portraits at Lux 11?   No matter which room you choose, you’re sure to be inspired.

If you speak or understand German, you can get the background to the project here:

Fast Tube by Casper

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Categories: Berlin, Photography

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter

Lichtfaktor. Light tagging Cologne

The Cologne collective Lichtfaktor, spearheaded by artists $ehvermögen, beat.surfers and JIAR, is quietly cultivating “light writing”, the latest form of graffiti.  The basic premise of light writing is to take long-term exposure photos of light sources that “draw” an image.  The goals of traditional graffiti and light writing are similar and both strive take it one step further than was previously thought possible.  However the technique is drastically different.  Lichtfaktor “writes” with various light sources while taking a time-lapse photo.  The result is a psychedelic burst of energy across a seemingly empty landscape. Read the rest of this entry »

Gender Check

Gender Check Femininity and Masculinity in Eastern European Art

MUMOK – Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna

The issue of commemoration almost inevitably produces a quandary.  Where should the focus lay?  On the event itself, historically speaking?  Or on the changes between the time we are marking and our present?

Berlin marked the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November with the fall of a wall of 8-foot dominoes and the music of Bon Jovi.  Gender Check at MUMOK in Vienna, which opened just days later, offers a different opportunity to consider the meaning of the fall of the iron curtain.  Rather than trying to jump in the Delorean with Marty McFly, curator Bojana Pejic and a team of experts from 24 different countries have assembled an exhibition of over 200 artists that examines the progression of gender and gender roles as they have been portrayed in the art of the former soviet block over the last 50 years. With over 400 works including paintings, sculpture, installations, photography, posters, films and videos, the relationship between art and history is woven together thematically as well as chronologically. From the “sexless society” of Socialist Realism and the “unofficial” art that answered its ideology with irony, to the new challenges posed by merging with the west, Gender Check is the first comprehensive exhibition of this, until recently, largely unknown chapter in art history.

Until 14.02.10 at MUMOK, Museumsplatz 1, A-1070 Vienna, a short walk from hotel Hollmann Beletage.

Anne-Marie von Sarosdy Exhibition

The Milkmaid (c) Anne-Marie Sarosdy "Home Sweet Home"

Idyllic and provocative, von Sarosdy’s surreal alpine landscapes are exceedingly lavish and yet ironic and complex.  Her picturesque epics breathe new life into subconscious dreams while playing with the conventions of kitsch. Read the rest of this entry »