Olaf, Dusk, 2009 Magda Danysz and Flatland are pleased to invite you to the
VERNISSAGE/ OPENING : Erwin Olaf – Solo Show
samedi 12 septembre 2009 de 18h a 21h/saturday September 12th, 2009 from 6-9 PM
Decouvrez en avant premiere mondiale la derniere serie Dusk du photographe ainsi que pour la premiere fois en France la serie Laboral Escenal. Get to see for the first time Erwin Olaf s first picture of his latest series Dusk as well as for the first time in France his photography series Laboral Escenal meet us the gallery – 78 rue Amelot – Paris
Erwin Olaf photographie dans un style fort des sujets qui ne satisfont pas l ideal de beaute. Des ses debuts, avec la serie Chessmen, il a ete reconnu a travers le prix de la Jeune Photographie Europeene et rapidement une exposition au Ludwig Museum de Cologne en Allemagne. Dans ses anciennes series, il a represente notamment des vieillards, des nains et des handicapes mentaux comme de veritables modeles glamour, alliant l humour, le respect, l imagination et l erotisme. Erwin Olaf cree des images qui emanent tout autant de la contre-culture que de la mode et de la pornographie. A partir de la serie Rain (2004), comporte des photos qui, a l oppose de ses oeuvres anterieures, ne sont pas sophistiquees mais evoquent la melancolie des annees cinquante. Expression par l image d’une pression sociale empreinte de claustrophobie et d’alienation de l individu. Avec cette nouvelle exposition en revanche Erwin Olaf explore, tout en restant fidele a ses sujets de predilection, le rapport de la photographie et de la peinture a travers la serie Laboral Escenal qui s’inspire des plus grands peintures classiques.
Mixing photojournalism with studio photography, Olaf emerged in the international art scene in 1988 when his series ‘Chessmen’ was awarded the first prize in the Young European Photographer competition. This award was followed by an exhibition at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany. Since then Olaf has continued to explore issues of gender, sensuality, humor, despair and grace in each successive series. Printing his early work in documentary style black-and-white, he first gradually introduced color and then digital manipulation. There is great contrast between each series. Mature (1999): golden-hued portraits of elderly women in the poses of kittenish supermodels; Fashion Victims (2000): a lewd commentary on the consumerism of sex and designer labels; Royal Blood (2000): minimalist white-on-white portraits, depicting the vengeful nature of members of the aristocracy who have suffered unsavory deaths; Paradise (2001): picturing a dark and baroque underworld of gleeful clowning and lunacy; Separation (2003) portraying an ice cold and introverted family in a sterile living room. In his four most recent series Rain, Hope, Grief and Fall, Erwin Olaf returns to classic imagery with minimal computer retouching. Video and film offer new possibilities to explore for this exceptional artist. Lately with his ‘Laboral Escenal series Erwin Olaf explores the link between photography and classical painting as his pictures are inspired by classical masterpieces from Zurbaran and alikes.