NEW YORK, NY.- Steven Kasher Gallery is presenting Marilyn & Me, Lawrence Schillers first solo exhibition in the United States. The exhibition features over fifty of Schillers iconic images of Marilyn Monroemany of which have been newly discovered in his archivesand coincides with the publication of his eleventh book, Marilyn & Me, published simultaneously, in two editions, by TASCHEN and Nan Taleses imprint with Doubleday. Shown for the first time are his original proof sheets with Marilyns rejection markings and scrawled notes. This exhibition and the publication of his two books on Marilyn mark the fiftieth anniversary of her death.
The exhibition also includes vintage prints from throughout Schillers illustrious career as photojournalist. Schiller (who is also known for his filmmaking and writing) was in attendance at the opening to discuss his work and sign copies of this books.
Marilyn & Me, a memoir in words and photographs, is an intimate story of Monroe before her fall and a young photographer on his way to the top. Schillers original text and extraordinary photography is a story that has never been told before, and he tells it with tact, humor and compassion. What emerges during the final months of her life is a portrait of an artist self-aware, in control of her image, yet fragile and vulnerable, and uniquely touching.
With the precision of a surgeon, Schiller slices through the façade of Marilyn Monroe in his unflinching memoir. Revealing and readable, its a book I couldnt put down. Tina Brown
Lawrence Schiller began his career as a photojournalist for Life, The Saturday Evening Post and Paris Match, among others. He photographed some of the most iconic figures of the 1960s, from Lee Harvey Oswald to Robert F. Kennedy, from Muhammad Ali to Barbra Streisand to Bette Davis, to Clint Eastwood to Paul Newman and Robert Redford. He has written for the New Yorker and five of his books have become New York Times bestsellers. Schillers collaborations include the Pulitzer Prize- winning book with Norman Mailer, The Executioners Song. He has also directed seven motion pictures and miniseries for television; The Executioners Song and Peter the Great won five Emmys and a feature-length documentary he directed won an Oscar. He is also the founder of the Norman Mailer Center and Writers Colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Youre already famous, now youre going to make me famous, photographer Lawrence Schiller said to Marilyn Monroe as they discussed the photos he was about to shoot of her in 1962. Dont be so cocky, Marilyn replied, photographers can be easily replaced.