MICHEL COMTE. NOT ONLY WOMEN. Feminine Icons of Our Times
18th February – 3rd April 2011
Leica Gallery Prague and Vernon Gallery
Exhibition "Not Only Women" in Leica Gallery Prague and Vernon Gallery brings to the Czech Republic the most intense and significant portraits of women realized by Michel Comte. Geraldine Chaplin said of him, "he is a knight errant of photography: a vagabond, an adventurer, a nomad with a camera". Over the course of his thirty year career, Comte has photographed the most important cinema celebrities but also those from the fashion, theatre, music and art. And it recounts who were, who are and who will be the women of our times.
"Not only Women" arises from an assumption that all too often the fashion portrait, in particular the female one, only has to be studied from iconographic and stylistic points of view. Michel Comte overturns this assumption. On the contrary, his shots are not limited to being plastic-aesthetic interpretations or to being well planned out performances, where the protagonists are women. In pursuing stylistic perfection, Comte delves into the intimacy of the female subject. He takes sharp, female images of faces and bodies that stand out against neutral backgrounds. Or compositions where the background becomes an integral part of the foreground, feeding on the light and on hints of surfaces, thereby coming alive. The women he photographs are never objects, but always the subjects and, with his art, the photographer succeeds in transforming contemporary femininity into icons.
Nudes, portraits of models, actresses and artists, amongst some of the most significant that Comte has taken throughout his career, are on show. Amongst others: Verushka, Iman, Wallis Montana, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni (the famous nudes taken by the artist of France's First Lady), Laetitia Casta, Giselle Bündchen, Louise Bourgeois, Sophia Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, Isabella Rossellini, Sharon Stone, Sophia Loren, Charlotte Rampling, Geraldine Chaplin, Sandra Bernhard, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.
Michel Comte
Photographer Michel Comte was born in Zurich in 1954. In 1978, his first international works are commissioned: advertising campaigns for the fashion houses of Ungaro and Chloe. A year later, he moves to Paris and from there in 1981 he leaves for New York collaborating with “Vogue America”.
From the early 1990’s, he becomes one of the most sought after fashion and portraits photographers on the planet. He creates advertising campaigns for famous brands such as Gianfranco Ferré, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Nike, Versace, Revlon, Lancôme, Hennessy, Davidoff Cool Water, Swatch, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Jaguar. He follows the Ferrari Formula 1 team for years on racing circuits and photographs Michael Schumacher.
Nevertheless, his activity does not end with portraits and fashion. In fact, in time he dedicates time to photo reportages, travelling in the world’s “hot spots“: Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tibet and Cambodia. A great number of his photo reportages are commissioned by the Red Cross International Committee, others are created for his Water Foundation. Many books have been published during his career.
Title:
Michel Comte. Not only Women. Feminine Icons of Our Times
Duration of the Exhibition:
18th February 2011 – 3rd April 2011
Organized by:
Leica Gallery Prague, o. p. s.
Školská 28, 110 00 Praha 1
www.lgp.cz
Galerie Vernon
Janovského 23, Praha 7
www. galerievernon.com
An Exclusive and a Project by:
Serena Baccaglini, Alessandro Luigi Perna
Exhibition curated by:
Serena Baccaglini
Co- curator
Maurizio Vanni
Scientific Coordination:
Alessandro Luigi Perna
Copyright:
Michel Comte Estate/ I-Management SA
Opening Hours:
Leica Gallery Prague
Monday – Friday 11 am – 8 pm
Saturday – Sunday 2 pm – 8 pm
Viewings at the Vernon Gallery can be arranged with a prior phone arrangement on phone No +420 773 915 501.
Entrance Fee:
Full 100,- Kč
Reduced 50,- Kč
Contact for Journalists:
Ivana Kubičková (LGP) Markéta Faustová (galerie Vernon)
tel. 602 118 007 tel. 773 915 501
e-mail: ik@lgp.cz e-mail: marketafaustova@seznam.cz
Media Partners:
Economia, DigiFoto
The project is presented under the auspices of the CAPS Ambassador of Switzerland to the Czech Republic.
A catalogue in English and accompanying program will be presented. All photos are for sale.
There are photographs available for exhibition presentation only and can’t be cropped or edited. Every photograph must be supplemented by the full name and © Michel Comte Estate / I-Management SA.
Leica Gallery Prague and Vernon Gallery
Exhibition "Not Only Women" in Leica Gallery Prague and Vernon Gallery brings to the Czech Republic the most intense and significant portraits of women realized by Michel Comte. Geraldine Chaplin said of him, "he is a knight errant of photography: a vagabond, an adventurer, a nomad with a camera". Over the course of his thirty year career, Comte has photographed the most important cinema celebrities but also those from the fashion, theatre, music and art. And it recounts who were, who are and who will be the women of our times.
"Not only Women" arises from an assumption that all too often the fashion portrait, in particular the female one, only has to be studied from iconographic and stylistic points of view. Michel Comte overturns this assumption. On the contrary, his shots are not limited to being plastic-aesthetic interpretations or to being well planned out performances, where the protagonists are women. In pursuing stylistic perfection, Comte delves into the intimacy of the female subject. He takes sharp, female images of faces and bodies that stand out against neutral backgrounds. Or compositions where the background becomes an integral part of the foreground, feeding on the light and on hints of surfaces, thereby coming alive. The women he photographs are never objects, but always the subjects and, with his art, the photographer succeeds in transforming contemporary femininity into icons.
Nudes, portraits of models, actresses and artists, amongst some of the most significant that Comte has taken throughout his career, are on show. Amongst others: Verushka, Iman, Wallis Montana, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni (the famous nudes taken by the artist of France's First Lady), Laetitia Casta, Giselle Bündchen, Louise Bourgeois, Sophia Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, Isabella Rossellini, Sharon Stone, Sophia Loren, Charlotte Rampling, Geraldine Chaplin, Sandra Bernhard, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.
Michel Comte
Photographer Michel Comte was born in Zurich in 1954. In 1978, his first international works are commissioned: advertising campaigns for the fashion houses of Ungaro and Chloe. A year later, he moves to Paris and from there in 1981 he leaves for New York collaborating with “Vogue America”.
From the early 1990’s, he becomes one of the most sought after fashion and portraits photographers on the planet. He creates advertising campaigns for famous brands such as Gianfranco Ferré, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Nike, Versace, Revlon, Lancôme, Hennessy, Davidoff Cool Water, Swatch, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Jaguar. He follows the Ferrari Formula 1 team for years on racing circuits and photographs Michael Schumacher.
Nevertheless, his activity does not end with portraits and fashion. In fact, in time he dedicates time to photo reportages, travelling in the world’s “hot spots“: Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tibet and Cambodia. A great number of his photo reportages are commissioned by the Red Cross International Committee, others are created for his Water Foundation. Many books have been published during his career.
Title:
Michel Comte. Not only Women. Feminine Icons of Our Times
Duration of the Exhibition:
18th February 2011 – 3rd April 2011
Organized by:
Leica Gallery Prague, o. p. s.
Školská 28, 110 00 Praha 1
www.lgp.cz
Galerie Vernon
Janovského 23, Praha 7
www. galerievernon.com
An Exclusive and a Project by:
Serena Baccaglini, Alessandro Luigi Perna
Exhibition curated by:
Serena Baccaglini
Co- curator
Maurizio Vanni
Scientific Coordination:
Alessandro Luigi Perna
Copyright:
Michel Comte Estate/ I-Management SA
Opening Hours:
Leica Gallery Prague
Monday – Friday 11 am – 8 pm
Saturday – Sunday 2 pm – 8 pm
Viewings at the Vernon Gallery can be arranged with a prior phone arrangement on phone No +420 773 915 501.
Entrance Fee:
Full 100,- Kč
Reduced 50,- Kč
Contact for Journalists:
Ivana Kubičková (LGP) Markéta Faustová (galerie Vernon)
tel. 602 118 007 tel. 773 915 501
e-mail: ik@lgp.cz e-mail: marketafaustova@seznam.cz
Media Partners:
Economia, DigiFoto
The project is presented under the auspices of the CAPS Ambassador of Switzerland to the Czech Republic.
A catalogue in English and accompanying program will be presented. All photos are for sale.
There are photographs available for exhibition presentation only and can’t be cropped or edited. Every photograph must be supplemented by the full name and © Michel Comte Estate / I-Management SA.
