The exhibition Tim Walker: Wonderful Things celebrates his rich imaginative power. With elaborate and often surreal sets, his photographs transport the visitors to enchanted worlds. Tilda Swinton, Grace Jones, Grayson Perry, as well as many other muses and models, feature in this largest-ever exhibition about Tim Walker – with over 150 new works inspired by the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.
At the heart of the exhibition are ten new photographic series that are directly influenced by the treasures in the V&A’s huge collection. The wide-ranging and eclectic collection of this museum for art and design is a source of inspiration for Walker. Together with curators, conservators and technicians he roamed the impressive galleries, depots, and hidden nooks and crannies of the museum in search of objects to spark his imagination. Along the way he encountered luminous stained-glass windows, vivid Indian miniature paintings, jewelled snuffboxes, erotic illustrations, golden shoes, and a 65-metre-long photograph of the Bayeux Tapestry, the largest photograph in the museum’s collection. These and many other rare objects inspired Walker’s monumental photographs in the exhibition.
‘I’m interested in breaking down the boundaries that society has created, to enable more varied types of beauty and the wonderful diversity of humanity to be celebrated.’
MAISON the FAUX are responsible for the design of Wonderful Things at the Kunsthal. As their point of departure they have taken the spectacular design that British set designer and creative Shona Heath – Tim Walker’s long-term collaborator – made for the exhibition of the same name at the V&A.
Tim Walker
was born in England in 1970. At the age of 18 he started working at the library of the media company Condé Nast. There he encounters the work of the English photographer and costume designer Cecil Beaton and his interest in photography began. Tim Walker studied photography at Exeter College of Art. After graduating he worked as a freelance photographic assistant in London and subsequently moved to New York City where he became full-time assistant to the renowned fashion photographer Richard Avedon. Aged only 25, Tim Walker shot his first big assignment for Vogue. This was the start of his career as a fashion photographer and he has since been photographing for the British, Italian, and American editions of Vogue, as well as for leading fashion and style titles such as W,
i-D, AnOther, and LOVE Magazine. Just like Cecil Beaton, Tim Walker photographs his models in theatrical settings. His work is characterized by a rich imaginative creativity and filled with fairytale references. The fact that Tim Walker finds inspiration in Surrealism and Romanticism is reflected in his choice of themes such as childhood, nature, or emotions, and his praise of the individual. Walker’s talent enables him to draw the spectator into his elaborately crafted dreamworlds.
On show Sept. 24, 2022 – Jan. 29, 2023
www.kunsthal.nl
Words source Kunsthal, images brankopopovicblog
No comments:
Post a Comment