Martin Schoeller – CAMERA WORK Gallery Presents A New Exhibition – Berlin

CAMERA WORK Gallery presents an exhibition of over 50 photographs by Martin Schoeller starting August 26, 2023. All works, the majority of which have never been exhibited before, are from the world-renowned “Close Up” series of the photo artist, who is exclusively represented by CAMERA WORK Gallery.

»A photographic close-up is perhaps the purest form of portraiture, crea5ng a confronta5on between the viewer and the subject that daily interac5on makes impossible, or at least impolite. In a straight close-up, the impact stems solely from the subject’s expression or apparent lack thereof, so the viewer is challenged to read a face without the benefit of the environmental cues we naturally use to form our interpersonal reac5ons.«

Martin Schoeller

Martin Schoeller is one of the world’s most renowned portrait photographers, whose distinctive visual language unites his artistic series and award-winning projects. Within the framework of the »Close Up» series, which was initiated by the artist more than 25 years ago, Schoeller always encounters his subject the same technical circumstances. This also results in an equality of the subject for the viewer; name and rank become secondary, the person comes to the fore, and the viewer encounters the subject directly. The exhibition in the CAMERA WORK Gallery shows impressive »Close Ups« of artists, athletes and politicians

such as Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jordan, Vitali Klitschko, and Salman Rushdie. In addition to selected works, Polaroids created during the respective shootings will be exhibited for the first time. The unique pieces, which show Angelina Jolie, Barack Obama, and Lionel Messi, among others, illustrate the authenticity of the »Close Ups« created in the same context as a predominant feature in Martin Schoeller’s work.

Martin Schoeller (*1968 in Munich, Germany) studied photography at the Leme Verein in Berlin and moved to New York in the mid-1990s, where he initially worked as an assistant to Annie Leibovitz and began his own career just a few years later. Martin Schoeller’s oeuvre includes his ongoing »Close Up« series as well as staged portraits and art projects within his series with a socio-relational focus, including »Death Row Exonerees,« »Survivors: Faces of Life aqer the Holocaust,« and »Homeless.« In many cases, award-winning publications have accompanied the projects. Martin Schoeller’s photographs are part of museum and private art collections worldwide and are exhibited in major art institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. (2008) and the NRW-Forum in Düsseldorf (2020). Well-known magazines and newspapers — including »Time,« »The New Yorker,« and »National Geographic« — publish Schoeller’s work. The artist’s photographs are available in exclusive editions and are considered to be of significant importance on the primary and secondary art markets.

CAMERA WORK

CAMERA WORK was founded in 1997 in Berlin, and has since then become one of the worldwide leading galleries for photography. With its historically coined gallery name, the gallery has always followed the philosophy to represent, next to world famous classic photographers such as Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Patrick Demarchelier, Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Herb Rims, and Albert Watson young and contemporary artists to manifest the position of photography as an independent genre within visual art and to give room to new positions. CAMERA WORK exclusively represents many prominent contemporary artists in Germany, Europe and around the world such as David Yarrow, David Drebin, Jean-Baptiste Huynh, Russell James, Robert Polidori, Eugenio Recuenco, Martin Schoeller, and Christian Tagliavini. CAMERA WORK regularly participates in the major international photography and art fairs, such as Art Central Hong Kong, Zona Maco in Mexico City, Paris Photo, and Photo London.

In 2020, CAMERA WORK established CAMERA WORK Virtual Gallery — an innovative, high quality online gallery where art collectors and art lovers can experience exclusive exhibiYons: www.camerawork.de/en/ virtualgallery/

CAMERA WORK AG, founded in 2001, owns one of the world’s most extensive and high-quality private photography collections with numerous vintage works by the most famous photographers of the 19th century up to the present. Beyond emphases on fashion, nude, and portrait photography, CAMERA WORK also focuses on the genres architecture and still life. From 2006 to 2019, CAMERA WORK presented THE KENNEDYS museum in Berlin, Germany.

CAMERA WORK Photogallery

Kantstraße 149, 10623 Berlin, Germany