MONA KUHN: Between Modernism & Surrealism | Edwynn Houk Gallery

 

Spectral, 2021© Mona Kuhn
Solarized gelatin silver enlargement print

 

Interleaving, 2022 © Mona Kuhn

Solarized gelatin silver print

Portrait Revealed, 2021 © Mona Kuhn

Solarized gelatin silver enlargement print

 

Photographer Mona Kuhn and Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs at Christie’s 

Photographer Mona Kuhn and Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs at Christie’s discuss her series along with artworks by masters exploring surreal representation.

“Mona Kuhn: Between Modernism and Surrealism” 

An exhibition of seven solarized photographs by Mona Kuhn from her series Kings Road in dialogue with artworks by masters exploring surreal representation, including Man Ray, Láslzó Moholy-Nagy, Dora Maar, Erwin Blumenfeld, and Bill Brandt.  +  +  +  

Mona Kuhn’s portraits visualize an uncanny love story. Kuhn’s solarized photographs in this exhibition follow a young woman throughout the groundbreaking mid-century modernist home designed by architect Rudolph Schindler in West Hollywood. In this mysterious narrative, Kuhn explores the core themes of Surrealism — dreams, desire, creation, and a challenge to conventional modes — through this autonomous woman. An active subject, she seeks formal and spiritual union with the King’s Road House, an avant-garde center of its day and a symbol of community and creativity. Kuhn’s solarization pushes these scenes further into the otherworldly, dissolving the aesthetic distinction between the human body, and its presence within the building. Rendered in layers of oxidized silver, body parts and architectural elements mirror and dissolve into each other, and the woman’s silver shadow cast on the building creates a literal space of integration.

The breakthrough of Surreal explorations in photography are widely traced to Man Ray’s experimentations, which radically expanded the horizons of photography beyond straight representation. This show presents two of the artist’s solarized gelatin silver prints, a technique that he discovered with Lee Miller in 1931: a nude portrait of Meret Oppenheim posing in front of Salvador Dalí’s painting, printed on a carte-postale, as well as a portrait. Both the figure of the mysterious woman and architecture were key motifs used by Surrealists and artists influenced by the movement, and photographs by László Moholy-Nagy, Dora Maar, Erwin Blumenfeld, and Bill Brandt open a historical dialogue with Kuhn’s practice.

“Mona Kuhn: Between Modernism and Surrealism” 

Edwynn Houk Gallery, 745 Fifth Ave NY 

through May 11, 2024

 

Mona Kuhn: Kings Road, Published by Steidl

Mona Kuhn’s lyrical and formally daring portrait of the iconic Schindler House in Los Angeles, supplemented with letters, blueprints and more. In Kings Road, Californian photographer Mona Kuhn (born 1969) reconsiders the realms of time and space within the architectural elements of the Schindler House in Los Angeles. Built by Austrian architect Rudolph M. Schindler in 1922, the house was both a social and design experiment and an avant-garde hub for intellectuals and artists in the 1920s and 1930s.

MONA KUHN with ANDREW SANIGAR : Photo London Book Club Live March 11 2021

Photographer Mona Kuhn

Refractions, 2006 © 2021 Mona Kuhn

“Mona Kuhn: Works” Thames & Hudson

 

“Mona Kuhn: Works” A Retrospective

Published by Thames & Hudson, March 2021

Join Mona Kuhn in Conversation with Andrew Sanigar March 11, 2021

 

 

For the inaugural Photo London Book Club Live, join photographer Mona Kuhn in conversation with Andrew Sanigar, Commissioning Editor at Thames & Hudson, discussing the artist's oeuvre and “Mona Kuhn: Works” the first retrospective by the photographer published this month by Thames & Hudson.

Kuhn’s distinct aesthetic has propelled her as one of the most collectible contemporary art photographers — her work is in private and public collections worldwide. "Mona Kuhn: Works" features images from throughout her career, accompanied by insightful texts by Rebecca Morse, Simon Baker, Chris Littlewood, and Darius Himes. An interview with Elizabeth Avedon provides insights into Kuhn’s creative process and the ways in which she works with her subjects and locations, and achieves the visual signature of her imagery.  

RESERVE YOUR VIRTUAL PLACE NOW FOR MARCH 11th:: https://photolondon.org/photo-london-launches-photography-book-club-and-a-new-programme-of-virtual-artist-talks/

I'm so thrilled to have an interview in Mona Kuhn's extraordinary retrospective monograph, "Mona Kuhn: Works", that comes out March/April, 2021. You can pre-order at Thames & Hudson or If you would like Mona to sign your book, you can order it from her website .

MONA KUHN: ParisPhoto 2018 | Flowers Gallery Exhibition + Book Signings

 Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents © Mona Kuhn

Bushes and Succulents 

Photographs: Mona Kuhn

Poetry: Gwendolyn Brooks

Published by Stanley Barker, 2018

PARIS PHOTO: Under the glorious glass domed ceiling of the Grand Palais, just at the VIP entrance, you will immediately be struck by the exotic beauty of Mona Kuhn's brilliant new series, "Bushes and Succulents,” hanging in FLOWERS London Gallery, Booth (A2); several large pieces ranging in size from 30x40" to 45x60. As a long-time fan of Kuhn's work going back over a decade -  from her early black and white portraits and nudes, through her color series Evidence, Native, Bordeaux and Private, up to this most recent incredibly sensual new series, "Bushes and Succulents” now debuting at Paris Photo - I'm always impressed by her methodology when embarking on a new series.  I spoke with Mona about her inspiration with these alluring botanicals.

EA: How did this series originate for you?

MONA KUHN: Not so long ago, women would find recognition as artists mainly if they worked with botanicals and craft. So earlier this year, I thought I ought to start, sooner than later, my first botanical series titled “Bushes and Succulents”. The title offers a sensual and playful wit to the much discussed aspects of current feminism.  My contribution is to continue a conversation that probably started with Courbet's painting "L'origine du monde”.

Feminism is currently multidimensional; there is no one take or objective. As for my own work, my intention with this series is to celebrate the female form and address women’s rights to express their sexuality in a way that is both playful and provocative. My own initial intent was strongly intuitive. The plants, in this case succulents, were chosen because of their power of endurance. And the solarized process on the Bushes abstracted the images of the bodies and the process itself pushed to reveal imperfections and bring out to the surface women's struggles, their strength, and their power. 

To me, both the succulents and women have powerful alluring forms related to notion of origin and survival. As a photographer, my female gaze highlights an unfiltered admiration for the female form and the works of other women such as Lee Miller and Georgia O’Keeffe. Additionally, I am honored to include a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.  I have great respect for the women who collaborated in this work and the artist women who inspired me to push myself forward.

EA: Stieglitz and members of his circle viewed Georgia O’Keeffe’s flower paintings as an expression of her female sexuality. If you could choose what people to take away from viewing your new work, what would it be?

MK: My intention with “Bushes and Succulents” was to abstract the images while still holding on to the history of the photographic medium. I wanted to bring back attention to Lee Miller’s process of solarization. Man Ray was well known for creating solarized images, however it was Lee Miller who discovered it. Solarizing the body parts helped me abstract from straight reality and the "au naturel” or “full bush” look helped shield visually what most people prefer to keep private. As a result, I photographed an intimate segment of a woman’s body without showing much!

As a counter point, the close-up images of succulent plants evoke a much more heightened sensual emotion. The succulents embrace a sense of wonder, you no longer know what you are looking at, they are in a way reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe’s large flower paintings. This new series is about juxtaposing images and playing with how the mind brings them together, the viewer feels allured, yet nothing is quite revealed. This series plays with the power of perception.

EA: Why did you choose Gwendolyn Brooks poem “We Real Cool” for this book?

MK: Instead of an art historian or curatorial text, I was rather looking for a song or a poem that carried a similar energy. When I first read Gwendolyn Brooks “We Real Cool” poem, I was immediately taken by a few key words which resonated with what I was trying to convey visually. I like to think of women as “We”. I like the all inclusive unifying message. I also loved passages like “we sing sin” and “we thin gin” and “we lurk late” and “we strike straight”. 

I created these images with women of all shapes and ethnic backgrounds, who felt alike because they think alike and go fiercely about their daily lives. There is a sense that they own their good and bad days, that they find time to connect and have fun and that they are not ashamed or in any way apologetic for being themselves.  So the poem felt perfect.  Gregory Barker then reached out to Gwendolyn Brooks’ estate and presented my work for their consideration.  I was beyond honored when he called to confirm they had granted us permission to include the poem in this book.

And lately, as I present this series to institutions, I always save the best for the last, and finish with a recorded voice of Gwendolyn Brooks reading that poem. It gives me the chills, it is a real blessing!

 Exhibition
“Bushes and Succulents"

Flowers, London
Paris Photo. Booth A2
Grand Palais
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris 

  

Monograph

“Bushes and Succulents"

Photographs: Mona Kuhn

Text by Gwendolyn Brooks

Publisher: Stanley/Barker, 2018

"Bushes and Succulents" is a woman’s artistic interpretation of women, endurance, freedom, and origin. The monograph has been printed using silver ink and features the poem "We Real Cool" by Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks.

 

Book Signings:

 Nov 10: 2pm 

Flowers London, Booth A2 inside the Grand Palais

Nov 10: 4pm

Group Signing at Jeu de Paume, Place Concorde 

6 Artists Published by Stanley Barker 2018
https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/

More about Mona Kuhn

PRIVATE: An Interview

MonaKuhn.com

#BestPhotoBooks2018

MONA KUHN: Curates Nudes in Contemporary Photography at Flowers Gallery NY

Alec Soth, Las Vegas (2011). Courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York

Excerpts from An Interview With Mona Kuhn

by Elizabeth Avedon

via Le Journal de la Photographie

Elizabeth Avedon: What brings you to New York?
Mona Kuhn: I have been invited to curate an exhibition titled “Under My Skin” at Flowers Gallery in New York City. It is a selection of nudes in contemporary photography, with works created mostly in the last five years. The exhibition reflects how we are currently representing the nude through the photo medium.

Aside from photography, I have been an independent scholar at Getty Research Institute since 2000. In the last 13 years, I have been curious about how we humans represent ourselves in works of art, and specifically in nudes, throughout art history - in all mediums.

It is a fascinating subject to me. Trends in art come and go, but the Nude remains a canon of high art, like a shadow we cannot jump away from. My two favorite ways of escaping is to photograph and being a bookworm. The invitation to curate brought both desires together.

EA: Did you alter your point of view when shifting from artist to curator?  

MK: Lets face it, curating is a competitive career. Most curators compete with each other to establish themselves intellectually in their field. There has been a huge gap in the US for museum level exhibitions related to the Nude. I am very comfortable with the theme, it is my second skin. And because it is not my profession and I am not tied in with an institution, I have the freedom to bring together works of high and low art that reflect our current culture. The choices were more emotional and guttural, than academic. I am thankful for that freedom...(Mona Kuhn is one of the most interesting women in Photography today. Read the entire Interview here)

 EXHIBITION
Curated by Mona Kuhn 

 “Under My Skin: Nudes in Contemporary Photography” 
June 20 – August 24, 2013
FLOWERS GALLERY
529 West 20th Street, New York

PANEL DISCUSSION
Moderated by George Pitts with Mona Kuhn, Vince Aletti, 
Mariah Robertson and Shen Wei
“The Role of the Nude in Contemporary Photography”
June 18, 2013, 6:30PM
Parsons The New School for Design
Theresa Lang Auditorium
55 West 13th Street, New York

Mona Kuhn Interviews

from the Archives of Le Journal de la Photographie 
Interview with Mona Kuhn 2011   
Interview with Mona Kuhn 2012
 

WATCH VIDEO: Photographer Mona Kuhn with Andrew Sanigar, Thames & Hudson

 

ZOOM VIDEO on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photolondonfair/videos/299145224967313

 

Watch the Recorded Video of this brilliant talk with Photographer Mona Kuhn and Andrew Sanigar, Commissioning Editor at Thames & Hudson, discussing the artist’s oeuvre and her newest book 'Mona Kuhn: Works’, published by Thames & Hudson. 

 

Photographers, here is your chance to hear both sides of creating a photography book! Andrew Sanigar, Commissioning Editor at Thames & Hudson, discuss' the early stages of this book project with the photographer; as well as Photographer Mona Kuhn's thought process beginning to create a book for publication, including her editing, sequencing and design thoughts and methods.

 

 

ZOOM VIDEO on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/photolondonfair/videos/299145224967313

 

Mona Kuhn: Works, Thames & Hudson 

 

Mona Kuhn: Works the artist’s first retrospective, features images from throughout her career, accompanied by insightful texts by Rebecca Morse, Simon Baker, Chris Littlewood, and Darius Himes. An interview with Elizabeth Avedon provides insights into Kuhn’s creative process and the ways in which she works with her subjects and locations, and achieves the visual signature of her imagery.  180 color and black and white illustrations

"LA-based Mona Kuhn is acclaimed for her contemporary depictions of the human form and essence. The underlying theme of her work is a reflection on humanity's longing for spiritual connection and solidarity. As she solidified her photographic style, Kuhn created a unique approach to the nude by developing friendships with her subjects, and employing a range of playful visual strategies that use natural light and minimalist settings to evoke a sublime sense of comfort between the human figure and its environment." – Photo London Book Club Live

Thames & Hudson

Mona Kuhn