PRESS RELEASE
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WILLIAM KLEIN - FASHION PHOTOS
OPENING:
November 19, 2016 from 12am-6pm
In the presence of the artist
Poster and book signing from 12am-3pm
EXHIBITION:
From November 21, 2016 to February 17, 2017
Grob Gallery is very proud to present for their inaugural exhibition the first solo show in Geneva of William Klein (born 1928).
Acknowledged as one of the most important photographers in the medium's history this exhibition focuses on the artist's fashion work.
Born and raised in New York, Klein graduated from high school at age 14 and subsequently studied sociology at City College of the City of New York. After two years in the United States Army, where he worked as an army newspaper cartoonist, he attended the Sorbonne, Paris, on the G. I. Bill. He studied painting briefly with Fernand Léger and has lived in Paris since 1948, working as a painter, graphic designer, photographer, and filmmaker.
Klein revisited New York in 1954 and began his documentation of the city, hurling himself into the urban chaos. He worked in direct opposition to the model of elegance and discretion he saw in the images of Henri Cartier-Bresson. From 1955 to 1965, Klein produced bizarrely original fashion photography for Vogue and other publications.
His employer at Vogue, Alexander Liberman, wrote, "In the fashion pictures of the fifties, nothing like Klein had happened before. He went to extremes, which took a combination of great ego and courage. He pioneered the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, giving us a new perspective. He took fashion out of the studio and into the streets. *
*Source: The Encyclopedia of Photography (1984)
This exhibition especially chosen by the Artist will feature over 30 of his most famous works.