Guy Bourdin was an iconic French artist and fashion photographer renowned for his highly provocative images for his time. The Parisian artist began his journey with photography as an artistic medium in the 1940s and when he met surrealist photographer Man Ray in 1951, he became inspired – consequently giving his own work a surrealist touch. It was also Man Ray that wrote the foreword for Guy Bourdin’s first solo exhibition. Bourdin worked predominantly with Vogue as well as other publications including Harper's Bazaar from 1955 onwards and had gone on to shoot campaigns for high end labels and brands including Chanel, Charles Jourdan, Bloomingdales and Pentax among others.
His works are collected by important institutions including The Tate London, New York’s MoMA, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Getty Museum. The first retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2003, which then went on to tour the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris, The National Art Museum of China, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and The Moscow House of Photography, just to name a few. The Tate currently has a permanent exhibit of some pieces of Bourdin’s work that were made between 1950 and 1955.
Guy Bourdin is considered one of the best-known photographers of fashion and advertising of the second half of the 20th century. Going against the grain, he set new standards for a different kind of fashion photography. Now, his iconic and noteworthy works will be showcased in the Middle East for the first time. In collaboration, fine art e-commerce platform ap8.art and THAT Concept Store—Dubai’s shopping destination for modern luxury—have added to their expertly selected art collections by exhibiting Guy Bourdin’s remarkable works for the first time ever in the Middle East.
For this particular exhibition, THAT Concept Store and ap8.art is offering customers, art collectors, and fashion enthusiasts the opportunity to purchase museum-quality artworks. The special Guy Bourdin exhibition features 17 large, hand-printed and framed photographs by the renowned French artist and fashion photographer.
“It has been a dream of mine to bring this sumptuous exhibition to the Middle East. There is no better place than THAT to showcase the artworks of the iconic Guy Bourdin – the photographer who was responsible for elevating fashion photography to an art form. This curated and framed collection is going to transform the home of collectors in Dubai and beyond,” says Viola Raikhel, Curator, and co-founder, ap8.art in a released statement.
The THAT Concept store & AP8 Guy Bourdin exhibition will run starting today 2nd February until 7th March 2023. All prints will be available for purchase at THAT Concept and online at THATConceptStore.com.
