Clair Obscur Gallery proudly presents the work of three generations of 'Masters of Montage Photography' originating from Paris. The exhibit introduces contemporary and historical photographers who approach the use of Montage from a generational span where each artist continues to capture our fascination with their unique approach to the process. The exhibit features 'The Female Nude' as subject/object of sexual desire, a focal point in the Surrealist Movement where Montage functions as a medium of recognizable symbols and juxtapositions. However, the disparate approaches to Montage in this exhibit demonstrate the use of groundbreaking photographic and darkroom techniques commonly found in Man Rays' work, to Andre De Dienes' complex darkroom experimentation, where he integrates the female nude into luscious backdrops of deserts and beaches, to the radical digital montage of Dahmane. The exhibit features three photo-based artists whose images celebrate vintage and neo-surrealism, with an emphasis on the technique itself, all of which culminate in the long term fascination with re-examining and re-ordering the beauty of the human form.
Welcome to the world of Montage Photography.
DAHMANE
Born in 1959 in Paris, the son of artists (his father a painter and engraver and his mother a poetess), from a very early age, Dahmane discovered the magic of feminine curves. From the age of 15, he combined this taste with his passion for photography to give birth to thousands of images that explore the infinite resources of a woman's sensuality, be she half-naked in private, or on the contrary, unveiled to passers-by in public places.
At 35, on a trip to Vienna, the splendid light shrouding the city prompted Dahmane to explore a new field which he termed his "Fine Arts". From then on, he would stroll for hours through the cities, on a quest for the most secret compositions they could offer his eye, catching in turn the coldness of a crossroads in Los Angeles, the romance of a street in Prague or the brightness and colorful chaos of a bazaar in Delhi...
But soon again, Dahmane felt the need to renew. His academic nudes didn't satisfy him anymore, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to find interesting interiors. Fortunately, it was preciseley at that time that Photoshop came of age. Thanks to this revolutionary software, the photographer could at long last, like a painter or a sculptor, master all the elements in his pictures. In Dahmane's case, that meant he could set his model precisely where he wanted, against the exact graphic background he had in mind.
Dahmane's photomontages are the result of a long process: the nudes and the views of the cities are first shot using a Leica reflex camera with a 50mm lens, loaded with conventional argentic films. The models are photographed in the open air, in a quiet place, during sessions that can last for as long as a day. Dahmane then mercilessly chooses amongst the innumerable resulting snapshots the very few that, in his eye, deserve to be printed. He does so himself, on 30x40cm baryte photographic paper, then scans the print again with a PC. After a careful masking in Photoshop, he embeds his nude model into the selected background and then proceeds to work on proportions, perspective, texture and grain, sharpness, luminosity, contrast and countless other parameters.
His first erotic book was published with Taschen, simply entitled Dahmane, followed by the more extreme Porn Art 1 & 2. This year two portfolios of his photomontages in a limited edition are released, entitled Nude Addict 1 & 2, available at the show. Having had numerous exhibitions in Europe, Clair Obscur Gallery is proud to present his work for the first time in the US.
The photographs are printed on Silver Baryt paper, Size 12x16 inches, signed versus by Dahmane.
ANDRE DE DIENES
Andre de Dienes was born in 1913 in Turia, Transylvania (now Romania). Following his mother's suicide he left home at 15 and traveled throughout Europe, mostly by foot. He ended up in Tunisia, North Africa, where he worked odd jobs, learned to paint and purchased his first camera, a 35mm Retina.
In 1933 de Dienes arrived in Paris to study art and bought his first Rolleiflex camera. Fascinated with taking pictures, he made a living selling photographs to publishing companies, including Lâ Humanité (a Communist newspaper) and worked for The Associated Press until 1936 when famous Parisian couturier, Captain Molyneux, encouraged de Dienes to become a fashion photographer.
In 1938, with the help of Esquire magazine editor, Arnold Gingrich, he emigrated to the US and settled in New York to work for Esquire, Vogue, Life and Montgomery Ward. De Dienes spent his vacations traveling parts of the US, taking pictures of the scenic grandeur of the western United States, and especially the Hopi, Navajo, Apache Indians, etc.
Dissatisfied with the restrictions of fashion photography, de Dienes moved to Hollywood in 1944 to pursue his real passion of photographing nudes (form photography) and outdoor scenes. An emotional and passionate photographer, de Dienes' objective was to see beauty in nature and in an effort to make his photographs as true to life, he never retouched them. He believed that to take good photographs one must have great patience, imagination and endurance, and the capacity to reveal both truth and beauty.
To support himself he freelanced for the studios and photographed many stars including Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire, Ingrid Bergman, Ronald Reagan, Jane Russell and Anita Ekberg, and rapidly became known as one of the top glamour photographers. Articles documenting his pioneering darkroom techniques in photo montage appeared in U.S. Camera, Figure Quarterly, Figure Annual, Classic Art Photography, and many more.
De Dienes' association with Marilyn Monroe began in 1945 when he hired her for her first modeling job at age 19. A five week road trip photographing the young Norma Jeane across California, Nevada and New Mexico resulted in a love affair and numerous magazine covers around the world. Their working relationship continued until 1953. Today, de Dienes' images of Monroe are considered by most to be the best studies ever taken of her.
De Dienes' work on nudes have generated twenty-four books published in the US, England and Germany. Marilyn Mon Amourâ was published in 1985 by St. Martinâs Press, and Marilyn in 2002 by Taschen. His latest book Andre De Diene's Studies of the Female Body is a fine collection of nudes published by Twin Palms, 2005.
Married twice but with no children, de Dienes died of Cancer in 1985.
These rare montage Nudes taken by Andre de Dienes are limited edition gelatin silver prints, made from the original negative. Custom printed on a double-weight fiber paper, stamped, signed and hand numbered by the estate Andre de Dienes. Size 16x20 inches, Limited Edition of 75. Also available as: Size 11x14 inches Limited Edition of 91.
MAN RAY
Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitsky in 1890, in Philadelphia, USA. In his early twenties he changed his name.
His talents were obvious even in childhood. He was skilled at building, reparing, inventing and drawing. After rejecting a scholarship to study architecture, he supported himself as a commercial artist and draftsman while taking night classes in art at various New York schools. Man Ray was a frequent visitor to Alfred Steiglitz's gallery and spent long hours discussing art with his mentor, Robert Henri. At 25, he had his first solo show. His work reflected the influence of cubism, which he avidly studied.
After meeting Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray bought his first camera. His friendship with Duchamp lasted more than 50 years and it was Duchamp who encouranged him to move to Paris in 1921. Man Ray would spend almost the rest of his life there, becoming an important member of the Parisian Dadaist and Surrealist circles.
Man Ray is known for his experimentation in almost every medium. His art is loaded with complicated puns and shocking subtexts. His close friendships with artists of all disciplines were crucial in promoting a progressive dialog within Modernism on the merits of photography as an art form. With Lee Miller, Ray developed a photographic solarization process that he used in portraits and nudes. By the time of his death in Paris at age 86, his medium had emerged not only as an accepted art form but as a universal form of visual communication.
These images, originally taken in the 1930's, have been printed from negatives held by the Man Ray Archives in Paris in 2003. The prints are stamped on the reverse and are authenticated by the Man Ray Trust. The photographs are Silver Gelatin prints on fiber based paper. The image size is 16x20 inches.
