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CHRISTOPHER MAKOS + PAUL SOLBERG
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July 10 - 25, 2021
MM Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibition of photographs by Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, opening Saturday, July 10 with a reception from 5 to 8 PM. The exhibition will remain on view through July 25, 2021.
The exhibition will include both independent and collaborative work by Makos and Solberg. The duo first began a series of collaborations nearly two decades ago while traveling. They discovered that they were drawn to similar subject matter and soon began a series of diptychs, where they would photograph separate objects or different eyes on the same subject, creating a second visual language. |
Paul Solberg + Christopher Makos, In Our Own Words
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Among the collaborative works on display will be examples from their renowned Andy Dandy series, which considers the rich association between Andy Warhol and flowers by creating a beautiful and intriguing dialogue between Makos' and Solberg's work. Also included will be the more recent In Our Own Words, comprised of 24 images from all over the world, essentially the duo’s photographic journal. The unique work is printed in four photo strips, a conversation which can be displayed in a variety of configurations.
Images from Christopher Makos’s Altered Image series will be on view including the monumental Andy Three Times. These images of Andy Warhol were a result of a collaboration between Makos and Warhol in 1981 through which the photographer and his subject used unexpected combinations of simple elements to explore identity. Warhol slightly altered his appearance with make-up and a wig, otherwise remaining in street clothes for the photographs.
Large-scale examples of Paul Solberg’s flower portraits will be on display including the stunning Water Lily Quadtych. Solberg undertook his study of flowers more for the study of light than flowers alone. An exercise in using light to reveal the elemental purity of a subject otherwise encumbered by overexposure and banality, resulting in life size living portraits rather than still life images.
Images from Christopher Makos’s Altered Image series will be on view including the monumental Andy Three Times. These images of Andy Warhol were a result of a collaboration between Makos and Warhol in 1981 through which the photographer and his subject used unexpected combinations of simple elements to explore identity. Warhol slightly altered his appearance with make-up and a wig, otherwise remaining in street clothes for the photographs.
Large-scale examples of Paul Solberg’s flower portraits will be on display including the stunning Water Lily Quadtych. Solberg undertook his study of flowers more for the study of light than flowers alone. An exercise in using light to reveal the elemental purity of a subject otherwise encumbered by overexposure and banality, resulting in life size living portraits rather than still life images.
Christopher Makos, Andy Three Times, silver gelatin print, 40 x 90 inches, AP 2/2
Paul Solberg began his photographic career with his first published book, Bloom (2005), following Puppies Behind Bars (2006), Tyrants + Lederhosen (2011), Tattoos, Hornets & Fire (2012) (co-authored with C. Makos), and the monograph, Ten Years in Pictures (2014). First known for his acclaimed still life portraits, the same stillness is seen in his human subjects, such as the portrait of Ai Weiwei (2008), and in the acclaimed portraits of the Armed Forces, in Service (2010), which resides in such collections as the Elton John Photography Collection, and exhibited at the America House, Kiev, 2017.
Christopher Makos is an American artist, photographer, and author. He was a prominent figure in the New York downtown scene of the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Makos created unforgettable portraits of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Patti Smith, and Keith Haring. As part of Warhol’s inner circle he accompanied the artist on his travels and social outings and has one of the most cohesive collections of photographs of Andy Warhol today. After more than 10 years of intimate friendship and frequent collaboration their photographic work began to overlap and influence each other, much like his second long standing collaboration with Solberg. Since that time, Makos’s photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Tate Modern in London, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the IVAM in Valencia (Spain) and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madridare, has been involved with numerous books that reflect on Warhol’s life including Andy Warhol’s Exposures (Andy Warhol Books 1979), Andy, (Assouline 2001), Warhol/Makos In Context (PowerHouse Books 2007), and Andy Warhol in China: The Photographs of Christopher Makos (Blue Kingfisher, 2008), and Warhol: A Personal Photographic Memoir (Virgin Books 1988).
Makos and Solberg continue to work and live in New York City.
Christopher Makos is an American artist, photographer, and author. He was a prominent figure in the New York downtown scene of the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Makos created unforgettable portraits of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Patti Smith, and Keith Haring. As part of Warhol’s inner circle he accompanied the artist on his travels and social outings and has one of the most cohesive collections of photographs of Andy Warhol today. After more than 10 years of intimate friendship and frequent collaboration their photographic work began to overlap and influence each other, much like his second long standing collaboration with Solberg. Since that time, Makos’s photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Tate Modern in London, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the IVAM in Valencia (Spain) and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madridare, has been involved with numerous books that reflect on Warhol’s life including Andy Warhol’s Exposures (Andy Warhol Books 1979), Andy, (Assouline 2001), Warhol/Makos In Context (PowerHouse Books 2007), and Andy Warhol in China: The Photographs of Christopher Makos (Blue Kingfisher, 2008), and Warhol: A Personal Photographic Memoir (Virgin Books 1988).
Makos and Solberg continue to work and live in New York City.
Paul Solberg, Water Lily Garden, 62 x 44 inches each