In focus Gallery presents a thematically exhibition from the Gallery’s collection, as a tribute to the beauty of women. “so beautiful” will take the viewer on a journey from 1940 up to today to discover exceptional works of art photography that focus on the beauty of women.
The exhibition “so beautiful” takes the liberty to focus on beauty and aesthetics in the #MeToo discussion and is also a reaction to the tendency in contemporary photography, to show everyday and uninspired things and events.
Gerhard Richter (born 1932), one of the most successful contemporary artists, said in 2005: “It’s difficult with beauty, we’re not in agreement on what it should mean. Certainly it is also because the term beauty is so hackneyed or sounds like ‘the good’ and ‘the true’. But that does not change the value of such ideal qualities and the fact that people need beauty. For me, beauty has always been a criterion for the quality of artwork, of whatever kind and from what time. […] Beauty is very simple, first of all the opposite of destruction and dissolution and damage, and with that it is inseparably connected with form, without which nothing can arise.” (Spiegel Nr. 33, S. 128-132)
A dominant focus in the Gallery’s collection has always been images of women; whether in humanist, fashion, or conceptual contexts, a theme of elegance and grace unites them across cultures and periods.
so beautiful
14 April – 7 July 2018
in focus Galerie
Hauptstr. 114
50996 Köln
infocusgalerie.de
Helmut Newton, Violetta Sanchez 1979
Mary Ellen Mark: “Quincea’Nera, Miami”, 1986, Silbergelatine, Vintage
Martha Hoepffner: Torso solarisation, 1940 Vintage, Silbergelatine
Willy Ronis: La chevelure, 1990, Silbergelatine
Lillan Bassmann: Krönung des Chic, Jada, Dress by Thierry Mugler, 1998
