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JAMM, an independent art advisory, will host an exhibition of Bert Stern’s photographs of Marilyn Monroe, which will open on Monday 18th March 2013 at the JAMM art gallery located in Al Quoz, Dubai.
In late June 1962, just six weeks before Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death, Bert Stern took almost 2,600 photographs of the American star over three daily sessions at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles for the popular Vogue magazine; this photo shoot later became known as The Last Sitting.
Stern’s best stock photos carry a rare sensual and human vibrancy. Never before had the star allowed a photographer such intimate access, and Stern’s camera captures a revealing, naked portrait of Marilyn the person – a fragile, lonely, flawed woman who would die tragically a few weeks later.
“Marilyn Monroe was great, sexy, beautiful and funny- the perfect all American girl. I loved her. I am very excited to be having a show for the first time in the fabulous city of Dubai”, said Bert Stern.
In front of the camera, Marilyn transformed into a chameleon, fully immersing herself into whatever role she was meant to play, be it a classic movie star dressed in a lavish fur coat, a pure, virginal character sheathed in an immaculate white veil or a true sex symbol wearing nothing but pearls or diamond necklaces, silk scarves or roses.
The exhibition will feature twelve unique archival prints on paper and on canvas enhanced with crystals and jewels, which add new depth and energy to these iconic portraits of America’s most famous actress.
“We are extremely pleased to present this small selection of Bert Stern’s unique prints of Marilyn Monroe from the series The Last Sitting. They are arguably the most celebrated, instantly recognizable images ever captured of Marilyn, who embodied – and still embodies – a certain ideal of feminine beauty, and whose image, 50 years after her tragic death, still influences contemporary style and fashion.
Bert Stern’s images are iconic and what makes them special, besides the fact that they are the very last pictures ever taken of Marilyn, is the palpable intimacy and the complicity shared between the photographer and the model; in these pictures, Marilyn looks completely unfettered, approachable and more real.
The hand-applied Swarovski crystals and jewels add an extra dimension and light to the photographs, rendering each print unique”, said Sheikha Lulu M. Al Sabah, Founder and Director of JAMM Art.
Bert Stern was born in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. Self-taught in photography, he began his career as assistant in the art department of Look magazine in 1946. Hugely successful in the worlds of fashion and advertising photography, he operated in the late 1960s a studio from which he created countless award-winning ads, editorial features, magazine covers, films and portraits. In all of Stern’s works one can recognize the remarkable graphic simplicity of his photographic art, as well as his extraordinary rapport with his subjects.
The exhibition will also mark the launch of the new JAMM art gallery, situated in close proximity to Al-Serkal Avenue home to a number of Dubai’s leading contemporary art galleries.
The Bert Stern exhibition will run from 18 March – 18 April 2013 at JAMM Art Gallery, Street 8, Warehouse 11, Building 19, Al-Quoz 1, close to Al-Serkal Avenue. Telephone: Telephone: +971 50 2288134. E-mail: info@jamm-art.org
Opening times: Saturday – Thursday, 11 am – 7 pm.
About JAMM: Established in 2009, JAMM is an independent strategic art advisory service founded by Kuwait based art-journalist and former Middle East Director for Phillips de Pury Sheikha Lulu Al-Sabah. The mission of JAMM is to create cultural projects without geographical boundary, from large-scale exhibitions to small-scale events and activities, which advance Arab and Iranian artists in the West and Western artists in the East, thus furthering collaboration between the two. JAMM currently operates exhibition spaces in Kuwait and Dubai and has an office in London. For more information on JAMM, please visit www.jamm-art.org
