Get ready to discover the great stage of Helmut Newton’s exhibition FACT & FICTION from November 18, 2023 at the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation (MOP), in A Coruña. An exhibition curated by Philippe Garner, Matthias Harder and Tim Jefferies dedicated to the life and great work of the photographer, a stage full of captivating and transgressive images that can be visited until May 1, 2024.
Helmut Newton – Fact & Fiction is the third of the exhibitions, preceded by Peter Lindbergh and Steven Meisel, and places the MOP Foundation at the forefront of visual art.
Newton, one of the memorable photographers of the 20th century, passionate about natural light, and a pioneer in fashion photography, both for his luxurious outdoor settings and the provocative attitudes with which he photographed his models/muses, pushes the boundaries of the fashion industry and expands viewers’ frames of mind.
After six decades of career behind him, the legendary German-Australian photographer (1920-2004) is considered one of the most important photographers in the world, creator of a new style in his photographs, full of glamour, daring and seduction. A visionary for his time.
The son of a wealthy Jewish family, the camera was the only toy he kept as he bought it himself; he initially worked as a photojournalist, but he didn’t like it and was soon fired. Although he did not consider himself an artist but a mercenary of photography, the truth is that he did not serve to imitate, but to create. In 1961, he was hired by Vogue France, when he became a professional photographer. He liked to say that the first 10,000 photographs were to be thrown away. He also liked to photograph with polaroid cameras, because they served him as a sketch. In this way, Newton became the king of movement, something unheard of until then.
The exhibition also reveals the artist’s most personal side through a series of videos that offer an insight into his childhood, his career and his more intimate life with June, his wife.
In the space coexist a selection of fashion and lifestyle photographs that stand out for the great revolutionary act of the photographer: to completely change the way women were portrayed. He invented the image of a strong, provocative and dominant woman, sometimes even untouchable. The exhibition also reveals her fetishistic side, her obsession with mannequins, with the underworld, the theatrical conception of photography, in which each work is dual, confronting reality and fiction.
Among the highlights of the exhibition are his iconic “big nudes” and the unforgettable portraits of exceptional figures of the time such as Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Charlotte Rampling, Elsa Peretti, Daryl Hannah, Jerry Hall, Naomi Campbell, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. Special mention goes to the photograph of British politician Margaret Thatcher in Los Angeles: when he set out to take her portrait, the former prime minister posed with a smile and he snapped at her: “power doesn’t smile”, causing her to close her lips.
In contrast to these iconic images related to the world of fashion, the exhibition also includes an approach to his lesser-known “landscapes”, influential cities in his career such as Las Vegas, Paris, Los Angeles, Monte Carlo or Berlin, atmospheres that integrate perfectly with the exhibition in A Coruña.
This exhibition is a small journey through the extensive legacy of one of the icons of photography of all time, which aims to enrich the cultural life of A Coruña and inspire new generations of visual artists to find their own way through the work of this influential and revolutionary artist.
