"15 Positives": Gus Van Sant at Dries Van Noten's The Little House, LA
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, October 10, 2024


"15 Positives": Gus Van Sant at Dries Van Noten's The Little House, LA
Gus Van Sant, Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Silver gelatin prints are signed, numbered and framed, 30x40 inches (76,2x101,6 cm) in a limited edition of 2 + 1 AP. © Gus Van Sant.



LOS ANGELES, CA.- Die Plek is presenting the first U.S. exhibition of Gus Van Sant’s photographic works in over a decade. Some of these portraits were taken in the 1980s and 1990s while casting his provocative and pioneering films Mala Noche, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, and To Die For. Even as Van Sant successfully works within Hollywood, he is an artist who subverts protocol and pushes standard definitions of character and storytelling, including casting amateur actors alongside Hollywood’s biggest names, as reflected here. 15 Positives is his vision from that periphery.

In these oversized portraits one senses the ease and distinct personality of the individual before the camera. At the same time, the viewer forgets what makes each person different from the other. The takeaway is a sense of connection between each portrait and the viewer, and between the seemingly disparate subjects themselves. Instead of pulling away from each other they become part of a greater single unit.

At the forefront of Dries Van Noten’s work is likewise the cultivation of connection between different people of all backgrounds and experiences. Inclusivity and openness are the heart of the eponymous clothing line. With the new Los Angeles store, the brand evolves its definition of the experience of art, bridging fashion with the fields of gastronomy, music, and fine art, and exhibiting works across genres to create a community of people with different interests and personal stories.

Here, too, is another connection: the honesty and directness of Gus Van Sant’s and Dries Van Noten’s art, which welcomes the different interpretations of those drawn to it. For both artists, the works speak volumes but are also quiet enough to listen.

This selection of positive prints from black & white Polaroids is guided by a feeling of immediate interconnectedness with the subject portrayed. A Polaroid photograph comes out as the union of a positive and negative. The raw, analog quality present in these Portraits is a rendition of what a negative Polaroid allows its positive counterpart to filter through. What remains is The Positive.

Katya Tylevich, Los Angeles, October 2021

The faces in this book were originally Polaroids used to cast the movies I have made. Beginning with my movie Mala Noche, I took the pictures of the lead actors, so that when planning the details of the shoot I could stare at the pictures and imagine the characters coming to life, and how they might visually relate to one another. As my films grew larger and when I started to get more money to make them, I used the Polaroids of the faces to do the initial casting. I think that the bulk of these pictures are of people that I had a meeting with about playing a part in either Drugstore Cowboy or My Own Private Idaho. These were taken in casting sessions.

(...) After we talked about something innocuous and removed from the task at hand, I would generally grab my camera which was sitting in front of me (I actually sort of hid behind it, it was so big) and I would ask, “Can I take a picture of you?” and every time I asked, so far, people have said yes. (...)




I would stand up and show the person to a place I had previously found that had good light, and after checking my light meter, saying nothing more than “Okay, ready,” I’d snap one Polaroid. Sometimes the person would stick around to see if it came out, other times they split right then. (...)

The expressions of the people are interesting, and I wonder if it is me that they are reacting to or is it the camera. I think it’s the camera, because it’s an old funky-looking 1965 Polaroid Land camera, and people always ask about it like it’s the oldest camera they have ever seen. As I look closely at the pictures, I am reminded about the power a single person carries around with them. Everyone is different, and yet they all look somehow the same. They all embody huge potentials for success or failure, for nervousness or calm, for sainthood or deviltry, and have individually had their proportionate share of both. They remind me of the moment the picture was actually taken, and how that moment is linked to their past, their present and their future. The day that I happened to catch them was just one little piece of time that is connected to all the other pieces of time that make up their lives. And sometimes I think I can see this in the picture itself. Somehow the camera is able to capture it. I don’t know how, but it does, I swear to God.

Gus Van Sant, June 12, 1992 in “108 Portraits” (published by Twin Palms Publishers)

Die Plek is an exhibition platform for artists working in the liminal space within photography and contemporary art.

Die Plek’s founding approach makes a bold claim: the work will find its own time and place. Travelling across multiple destinations and diverse, nontraditional sites, Die Plek is born without a fixed address. Upending the classic notions that an artist’s work must fit within the rigid gallery framework and architecture, the space for every exhibition will be custom selected.

Die Plek, translated in English as The Place, is a creative project founded by curator Kaat DeJonghe.

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (b. 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician who got accolades as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker.

He made his feature-length cinematic directorial debut with Mala Noche (1985), focusing on those existing on society’s fringes. His second feature, Drugstore Cowboy (1989) was highly acclaimed and earned him screenwriting awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle, and the award from Best Director from the National Society of Film Critics. His next film, My Own private Idaho (1991) was similarly praised, as were the black comedy To Die For (1995), the drama Good Will Hunting (1997), and the biographical film Milk (2008). For the latter two, Van Sant was nominated for numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Director receiving Best Picture nominations for both films.

In 2003, Van Sant’s film about the Columbine High School massacre, Elephant, won the Palme d’Or and Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. More titles are his adaptation of Tom Robbin’s Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), the 1998 remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Finding Forrester (2000), Last Days (2005), Paranoid Park (2007) among many others.

In addition to directing, Van Sant has written the screenplays for several of his earlier works, and is the author of a novel Pink (1997). Two books of his photography, 108 Portraits and One Step Big Shot, have been published, and he has released two musical albums.










Today's News

April 11, 2022

Winslow Homer: Radical Impressionist

With new museum, officials give techno the stamp of approval

Lost Easter tradition encapsulated in pair of rare oil paintings up for auction

Guildhall Art Gallery presents 'Inspired: Art inspired by theatre, literature and music'

Exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery focuses on Robert Grosvenor's smaller works

"15 Positives": Gus Van Sant at Dries Van Noten's The Little House, LA

Juanjo Guarnido at the PAFF! gallery in Pordenone

The Städel Museum opens an exhibition dedicated to American art on paper from 1945 to the present

Exhibition at Almine Rech presents a selection of works by artist Eugène Leroy

Prinseps auction: Artist Somnath Hore's artworks to go under the hammer on 29th April

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts opens 'Scottish Women Artists: Transforming Tradition'

Shannon's Fine Art Auction will be held online, April 28th

Kossmanndejong and Morphosis create an immersive art installation around 'Growth, what is that?'

Gazelli Art House opens first UK solo exhibition of new works by Aida Mahmudova

India Rose James Guest curates art on a postcard auction to raise funds for Choose Love's ukrainian appeal

The Photographers' Gallery opens 'For the Record: Photography & the Art of the Album Cover'

National Academy of Design announces publication of completed Eastman Johnson catalogue raisonné

Jonathan Meese's fifth solo exhibition at Tim Van Laere Gallery opens in Antwerp

For this opera director, a lot is riding on a 'Handmaid's Tale'

Two musicians of color are creating their own space

Ayodele Casel is on tap for 'Funny Girl'

The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art opens a group exhibition

U-M Museum of Art and Monument Lab partner for public art commission

Broadway bets big on a spring rebound. Will the virus cooperate?

Christie's to offer works from the collection of Birte Inge Christensen and John Hunov

9 of the Best Contemporary Paintings you Must See




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful