In a career spanning more than 20 years, Mona Kuhn has reimagined the nude in contemporary art. Here are photographs that illustrate her distinct approach to documenting the body
Clervaux est une belle ville du nord du Luxembourg où, depuis 1994, elle expose dans son château la dernière version de la célèbre exposition The Family
"With a self-portrait you can't see yourself."
In a career spanning more than 20 years, Mona Kuhn has reimagined the nude in contemporary art. Here are photographs that illustrate her distinct approach to documenting the body
German-Brazilian artist and photographer Mona Kuhn celebrates the beauty of the naked female form in her new photographic book, titled Bushes And Succulents. The sensuous...
Clervaux est une belle ville du nord du Luxembourg où, depuis 1994, elle expose dans son château la dernière version de la célèbre exposition The Family
German-Brazilian artist and photographer Mona Kuhn celebrates the beauty of the naked female form in her new photographic book, titled Bushes And Succulents. The sensuous...
The Brazilian artist ventures into the desert for a new series, She Disappeared into Complete Silence, capturing her muse in Robert Stone’s golden Acido Dorado house
The Brazilian artist ventures into the desert for a new series, She Disappeared into Complete Silence, capturing her muse in Robert Stone’s golden Acido Dorado house
German-Brazilian artist and photographer Mona Kuhn celebrates the beauty of the naked female form in her new photographic book, titled Bushes And Succulents. The sensuous...
The Brazilian artist ventures into the desert for a new series, She Disappeared into Complete Silence, capturing her muse in Robert Stone’s golden Acido Dorado house
Photograph © Mona Kuhn "I wanted to approach what is truly strange, beautiful and disorienting about the desert. Aside from vast landscapes and intimate nudes, for the first time I also photographed a few desert animals as metaphors. I was intrigued by their mysticism, like desert shamans, they have an instinct of their own. They know well their place and function in that vast space. Like the California pale moths that fly into the light. Or a black widow tattooed on a woman’s hand. I photographed a majestic black condor, then I photographed a Nephila’s golden spider web. Animals seem to understand nature's balance and survive better than humans in the desert." – Mona Kuhn Photograph © Mona Kuhn "I usually start a new series with colors. I knew I wanted a little bit of that golden sand skin tonality. I wanted black as it has a certain sense of mortality. You are constantly testing your endurance in the desert, the limits of how long you can stay out there or how debilitating it is to be at 100 and some degrees. Your system really slows down and you can’t think straight. So the whole series is about our vulnerability in that environment as a metaphor to life." Two galleries will be previewing Mona Kuhn's upcoming series titled “Private” at AIPAD; Jackson Fine Art and M+B. Steidl is printing the accompanying book in May, to come out in early Fall as part of Paris Photo. Mona Kuhn: PRIVATE AIPAD, NY Jackson Fine Art – Booth #102 and M+B Gallery – Booth #423 Park Avenue Armory 643 Park Avenue (67th St.) Mona Kuhn: Acido Dorado 4 April – 10 May 2014 Flowers Gallery 82 Kings Road London, England Lee Friedlander once said: “The desert is a wonderful, awful, seductive, alluring stage on which to be acting out the photography game.” Read My Interview With Mona Kuhn in L'Oeil de la Photographie here
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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
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Jusqu’au 13 janvier, la Galerie XII, écrin culturel parisien, présente l’exposition “Kings Road” de Mona Kuhn. Une série de photographies dérivées d’une lettre mystérieuse de rupture. Un étonnant processus dont l’artiste livre tous les secrets.
In 'Kings Road,' photographer Mona Kuhn brings to life the mysterious, unnamed addressee of a break-up letter written by architect Rudolph Schindler.
In a career spanning more than 20 years, Mona Kuhn has reimagined the nude in contemporary art. Here are photographs that illustrate her distinct approach to documenting the body
Photograph © Mona Kuhn "I wanted to approach what is truly strange, beautiful and disorienting about the desert. Aside from vast landscapes and intimate nudes, for the first time I also photographed a few desert animals as metaphors. I was intrigued by their mysticism, like desert shamans, they have an instinct of their own. They know well their place and function in that vast space. Like the California pale moths that fly into the light. Or a black widow tattooed on a woman’s hand. I photographed a majestic black condor, then I photographed a Nephila’s golden spider web. Animals seem to understand nature's balance and survive better than humans in the desert." – Mona Kuhn Photograph © Mona Kuhn "I usually start a new series with colors. I knew I wanted a little bit of that golden sand skin tonality. I wanted black as it has a certain sense of mortality. You are constantly testing your endurance in the desert, the limits of how long you can stay out there or how debilitating it is to be at 100 and some degrees. Your system really slows down and you can’t think straight. So the whole series is about our vulnerability in that environment as a metaphor to life." Two galleries will be previewing Mona Kuhn's upcoming series titled “Private” at AIPAD; Jackson Fine Art and M+B. Steidl is printing the accompanying book in May, to come out in early Fall as part of Paris Photo. Mona Kuhn: PRIVATE AIPAD, NY Jackson Fine Art – Booth #102 and M+B Gallery – Booth #423 Park Avenue Armory 643 Park Avenue (67th St.) Mona Kuhn: Acido Dorado 4 April – 10 May 2014 Flowers Gallery 82 Kings Road London, England Lee Friedlander once said: “The desert is a wonderful, awful, seductive, alluring stage on which to be acting out the photography game.” Read My Interview With Mona Kuhn in L'Oeil de la Photographie here
Venetian images from LA based photographer Mona Kuhn. Born in Brazil with German parents, Mona’s work is mainly figurative but seems to take studies of the surrounding landscape during shoots…
Tom Hiddleston wore nothing but a pair of white boxers in a photo shoot published today.
Reconnue pour ses représentations contemporaines et intimes de la forme humaine, Mona Kuhn prend une nouvelle direction dans l'abstraction dans sa
AIPAD: Jackson Fine Art #404 Photograph by Mona Kuhn from her Acido Dorado Series AIPAD: Jackson Fine Art #404 Mona Kuhn photographs at Jackson Fine Art from her Acido Dorado Series, 2014 An Interview With Mona Kuhn on her series Acido Dorado and Private AIPAD: FOLEY Gallery #421 Photographer Wyatt Gallery (artwork on the wall) with Michael Foley and Mona Kuhn AIPAD: Kopeikin Gallery #109 Paul Kopeikin with Carolyn Louise Newhouse AIPAD: ClampArt #108 Julie Grahame and Brian Paul Clamp AIPAD: Howard Greenberg Gallery ##201 Alex Majou, Scene #0880, Brazzaville, Congo Scene at a train station, 2013 AIPAD: Flowers Gallery, NY #418 Nadav Kander: Chongqing I, Chongqing Municipality, 2006 AIPAD: Monroe Gallery of Photography #104 Vintage PhotoJournalism AIPAD: Rick Wester Gallery #102 Photographer: Ima Mfon AIPAD: Robert Mann Gallery #409 Photograph Paulette Tavormina Robert Mann Gallery #409 Photographers Mona Kuhn and Paulette Tavormina AIPAD: Jackson Fine Art #404 Mona Kuhn at Jackson FineArt. Photographs: Kahn + Selesnick *AIPAD, PARK AVENUE ARMORY, NY April 14-17, 2016 *The Association of International Photography Art Dealers Celebrating its 36th year in 2016, AIPAD was held in Manhattan’s Upper East Side at the Park Avenue Armory. This is a small glimpse into the work from 85 leading international photography art galleries exhibiting. Begin your photography collection here! An Interview With Mona Kuhn • the Bordeaux Series • the Native Series •Acido Dorado and Private
A thought-provoking blend of high fashion, art and culture brought to you by the creators of AnOther Magazine
In a career spanning more than 20 years, Mona Kuhn has reimagined the nude in contemporary art. Here are photographs that illustrate her distinct approach to documenting the body