A legendary musician’s intimate vision of a great photographer’s profound, exquisitely somber oeuvre
Bringing together the sensibilities of two remarkable artists, Peter Hujar Curated by Elton John provides striking proof of how one artist’s eye can shed light on another. Though known worldwide as one of the most revered performers of our era, Elton John is also a seasoned collector of photographs, with an acute and personal understanding of Hujar’s achievement. Through a selection of 50 photographs, the book presents a wide-ranging survey of Hujar's career. John writes: “Hujar's humanity, depth and sensual insights aren't for everyone, and don't need to be, but once his pictures get into your bloodstream they are impossible to shake.” The publication includes works spanning nearly two decades, featuring portraits of Hujar's eclectic circle of friends, his landmark nudes, atmospheric landscapes, portraits of performers (Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lee and Edgar Winter) and a moving image of the artist with his mother. Peter Hujar (1934–87) was born in Trenton, New Jersey and moved to Manhattan to work in the magazine, advertising and fashion industries. He documented the vibrant cultural scene in downtown New York throughout the 1970s and 1980s, photographing artists, musicians, writers and performers. Hujar died of AIDS in 1987. Elton John (born 1947) is one of the most enduringly successful solo artists of all time. In 1992 he founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which funds programs to end the AIDS epidemic. Since the 1990s he has avidly collected photography. In 2016, Tate Modern organized the exhibition The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
T Magazine
Samuel Anderson
Though not a duet, Elton John's latest project is a harmony of sorts.
Artnet
Taylor Dafoe
“Once his pictures get into your bloodstream they are impossible to shake,” John said of the photographer.
Blind
Sara Rosen
John’s impeccable eye, honed over decades of collecting and curation, offers a fresh take on Hujar’s oeuvre, showing the ways in which queer culture, male erotica, portraiture, pets, and landscapes blend together in a frisson of poignant beauty and solace.
Guardian
Elton John is a seasoned collector of photographs, with an acute and highly personal understanding of Peter Hujar's achievement.
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Featured spreads are from Peter Hujar Curated by Elton John, Fraenkel Gallery's exquisitely produced monograph on the influential but (in his lifetime) underrecognized photographer who captured the downtown NYC demimonde in striking black-and-white from the age of twenty-three, in 1957, until his death from complications related to AIDS, in 1987, at the age of just fifty-three. Assembled by noted photography collector Elton John, this volume includes portraits of friends, lovers, performers, cultural figures, landscapes and animals. Pictured here: "Beauregard's Dog Pilar" (1983), "Ethyl Eichelberger as Auntie Belle Emme" (1979) and "June Newton, Paris" (1980). "Hujar's humanity, depth and sensual insight aren't for everyone, and don't need to be," Elton John writes, "but once his pictures get into your bloodstream they are impossible to shake." continue to blog
Published by Fraenkel Gallery. Introduction by Elton John.
A legendary musician’s intimate vision of a great photographer’s profound, exquisitely somber oeuvre
Bringing together the sensibilities of two remarkable artists, Peter Hujar Curated by Elton John provides striking proof of how one artist’s eye can shed light on another. Though known worldwide as one of the most revered performers of our era, Elton John is also a seasoned collector of photographs, with an acute and personal understanding of Hujar’s achievement.
Through a selection of 50 photographs, the book presents a wide-ranging survey of Hujar's career. John writes: “Hujar's humanity, depth and sensual insights aren't for everyone, and don't need to be, but once his pictures get into your bloodstream they are impossible to shake.” The publication includes works spanning nearly two decades, featuring portraits of Hujar's eclectic circle of friends, his landmark nudes, atmospheric landscapes, portraits of performers (Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lee and Edgar Winter) and a moving image of the artist with his mother.
Peter Hujar (1934–87) was born in Trenton, New Jersey and moved to Manhattan to work in the magazine, advertising and fashion industries. He documented the vibrant cultural scene in downtown New York throughout the 1970s and 1980s, photographing artists, musicians, writers and performers. Hujar died of AIDS in 1987.
Elton John (born 1947) is one of the most enduringly successful solo artists of all time. In 1992 he founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which funds programs to end the AIDS epidemic. Since the 1990s he has avidly collected photography. In 2016, Tate Modern organized the exhibition The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection.
