Always eager to endorse our favourite art-world individuals, Guy Bourdin - in all his posthumous glory - has clocked up a fair few W* column inches of late. A few months ago we featured Galleria Carla Sozzani's Unseen exhibition in Milan, and this month we wait in anticipation for Bourdin's latest outing in London's East End.
Curated by The Wapping Project in collaboration with art auctioneers Phillips de Pury - the London-based gallerists have uncovered 32 previously unexhibited photographs from Bourdin's oeuvre for their Unseen show.
See more of Guy Bourdin's uncovered photographs from the show
Refreshingly unassuming, Bourdin made little, or no, effort to formally exhibit any photographs during his career. Adopting the pages of glossy magazines as his milieu, Bourdin's surrealist narratives and sexed-up sets transcend the page-confined precincts of his photographs.
With several of his double-page-spreads from 1980's era French Vogue on shown, Bourdin's improbably leggy muse - model Nicolle Myer (who later went on to write Bourdin's biography) - is a regular feature. Both objectified and animated, Bourdin's subjects assume an eerily malleable, doll-like flawlessness.
As an artistic rule, we are of the school that when it comes to never-before-seen - the for-a-good-reason tagline should probably follow. Guy Bourdin's latest airing however, offers followers and fledglings alike the chance to view some of his finest photographic work - and what's more, it can all be enjoyed against the fittingly offbeat backdrop of Wapping Hydraulic Power Station.
ADDRESS
The Wapping Project
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
Wapping Wall
London E1W 3SG
-
ICON 4x4 goes EV, giving their classic Bronco-based restomod an electric twistThe EV Bronco is ICON 4x4’s first foray into electrifying its range of bespoke vintage off-roaders and SUVs
-
‘Dressed to Impress’ captures the vivid world of everyday fashion in the 1950s and 1960sA new photography book from The Anonymous Project showcases its subjects when they’re dressed for best, posing for events and celebrations unknown
-
Inside Camperlab’s Harry Nuriev-designed Paris store, a dramatic exercise in contrastThe Crosby Studios founder tells Wallpaper* the story behind his new store design for Mallorcan shoe brand Camperlab, which centres on an interplay between ‘crushed concrete’ and gleaming industrial design
