Opening: 28 April 2009, 8 p.m.

The exhibition will provide an original overview of the artist’s work over the past three decades, showing all stages of his creative development, from the early musical shots to the recent celebrity portraits. Although Corbijn has been experimenting in various areas of modern visual culture – short films, music videos, live show decoration and design – his main medium of expression has always been photography. The exhibition will present over 200 photo-portraits, some of them to be reckoned among the most significant works in contemporary portrait photography.

The first period of Corbijn’s artistic career was between 1973 and 1989. Then, between 1990 to 1996, he started independent work in a new format, experimenting and shooting in his studio. The third period, 1997 to 2000, comprises portraits made as adroit imitations of paparazzi shots, which are in fact thoroughly staged studio photographs making use of decorations and lights. These large monochromic – predominantly blue – images are subtle critiques of the paparazzi world, as the most famous stars are presented as non-existent heroes of an imaginary film noir. In his most recent period, Corbijn has created a series of self-portraits, all taken in the Dutch countryside where he was born. For this series, the artist dresses up and uses make-up to transform himself into great musicians who have passed away, rendering homage and looking back on the roots of his career.

http://www.corbijn.co.uk
http://www.ludwigmuseum.hu

Anton Corbijn is a photographer, primarily, regardless of his films, music videos and stage designs. His images burst open the walls of the exhibition space. The opening at Ludwig was arranged in a way that eternal rock and roll was sounding from, if not from his pictures, the loudspeakers outside.
More