This weekend undoubtedly belongs to twenty undiscovered fashion and photography talents at the 2013 Hyères Fashion & Photography Festival.

The four-day festival in southern France will see a prestigious jury including Lacoste creative director Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Business of Fashion founder Imran Amed and Harvey Nichols fashion director Paula Reed choose the lucky winners for awards sponsored by companies such as Chloé, Leica, and the New York School of Visual Arts.

Even if you can't personally make it to the event, be sure to check out the promising talent including Henning Jurke, Satu Maaranen, Emile Barret, Eva Stenram. 

villanoailles-hyeres.com

Tags: Hyères Fashion & Photography Festival

The nude portraits for Jane Hilton's latest show, Precious, present an intimate study of character, body and spirit. The fact that these photographs were taken at eleven different brothels across Nevada lends them even more poignancy.

Showing the unseen side to life as a working girl whilst challenging traditional concepts of beauty, the London-based photographer has created a thought-provoking body of work.

From a former drug addict to an aspiring philanthropist, each portrait offers a captivating insight into every woman's individual life story.

Precious exhibits from 26 April until 25 May at Eleven gallery.

janehilton.com

elevenfineart.com

Tags: Jane Hilton

Last night saw the launch of Uniqlo’s latest venture which brings together the worlds of fashion, music and art. The initiative has made its way to cities such as Tokyo, New York, Paris and Singapore, and now it’s London’s turn. The UT POP-UP is an unique concept gallery space which opens to the public today, located at The Hoxton Gallery at the Arch on Kingsland Road.

The gallery will have different art installations each weekend from renowned London-based artists Damian Weighill and Dan Freeman which look at music and art as themes, as well as a pop-up UT (UNIQLO T-shirt) store and events. There will be a private screening of the documentary on the life of Keith Haring at the UNIQLO Secret UT Cinema tonight. Other events at the concept gallery space include UNIQLO UT Sessions, a live recording session with Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs on Friday 26th April and the UNIQLO Record Fair on Saturday 27th April.

ut.uniqlo.com

Tags: Hoxton Gallery, Uniqlo

For most people, London in the Swinging Sixties equals glitter, glamour and overall excess. However as Dorothy Bohm’s exhibition at Proud Chelsea proves, there was an equally captivating side to be seen in everyday metropolitan life.

“Almost every area had its own character and I knew I was undertaking a very difficult task. I tried not to be content with just the facade or outward appearance of things. I hoped to penetrate just beyond that, to portray a living London: the people who pursued their daily occupations, walked, talked, ate or relaxed and dressed in the fashions of the time,” the photographer says of her decision to capture the city through the lens of her Rolleiflex camera.

From youth culture to panoramic views, the result is a nostalgic and unique view of The Big Smoke.

Dorothy Bohm: Sixties London is on display until April 28th at Proud Chelsea, 161 King”s Rd  London, SW3 5XP.

If your are looking for a bit of springtime inspiration, don’t miss the 11-day graphic art, design and illustration festival Pick Me Up.

Opening this Thursday at Somerset House, the event will showcase the work of established and upcoming talents, with a roster of names including Annelie Carlström, Burgerac, Niki Pilkington and Rob Flowers.

Once you’ve finished viewing the artwork, stop by the pop-up nail booth run by artists like artists Anna Lomax and Katie Scott, plus contribute to Modern Toss Fuckyeux Tapestry, a project attempting to create the world’s longest and most profanity filled cartoon.

Pick Me Up : Graphic Arts Festival runs from April 18 to 28 at Somerset House, The Strand, WC2R 1LA.

pickmeuplondon.com

Tags: Pick Me Up graphic arts festival

In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine that there is a side to the Queen of Pop that the public hasn’t seen. However, just a year before Madonna released her debut eponymous album, she was photographed in her Lower East Side apartment by Richard Corman and fellow photographer George DuBose.

Having taken over thirty years to surface, these refreshingly cool photos of a young Ciccone go on display for the first time at the W Times Square in in New York. Select shots are also on display at the W New York, W Downtown, W Union Square, and W Hoboken.

Madonna : Exclusive Insider Access To A Never Before Seen Photo Retrospective is on display until May 12.

rockpaperphoto.com/madonna

Text by Beccy Hill

Tags: George DuBose, madonna, Richard Corman

Having illustrated for over 50 years for the likes of Rolling Stone, New York Times magazine, Levi’s and Ralph Lauren, the title An Artful Life seems more than appropriate for Barbara Nessim’s retrospective at the V&A.

The American illustrator and fashion designer has provided an extensive collection of her sketchbooks, prints, drawings, photographs, computer graphics, ceramics and more. Be sure to check out this show on one of the pioneering female digital artists.

Barbara Nessim – An Artful Life exhibits at the Victoria & Albert Museum until 19 May 2013.

www.vam.ac.uk

“I want to remember everything as more than it was. I want these picture to be felt and heard and read like stories,” says Jordan Sullivan. His latest exhibition at The Gallery Next to the Burgundy Room manages to achieve just that.

Delving into the contradictions of everyday life, from the fragile and strong to the light and dark, the New York-based artist’s work is an ethereal yet honest look at the human condition.

The show brings together Sullivan’s photography, collages and writings for an installation that is not only a pleasing visual experience, but also an emotionally affecting one as well.

Sometime, Somewhere exhibits until March 24 at The Gallery Next to the Burgundy Room, 1621 North Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles.

jordan-sullivan.com

alexisgross.com/gallery.html

Tags: Jordan Sullivan

Joan Jett, Bob Dylan, The Sex Pistols — name any legendary musician and Brad Elterman is sure to have photographed them. His images depict a long bygone world of pure rock n’ roll hedonism and recklessly good times. Following a long hiatus, Elterman has returned. Twin decided to ask him about his work process, the nature of celebrity photography, and the experience of hanging out with Debbie Harry & co.

How would you describe working in the late 70s/early 80s?

My timing was good. I was young and always had a camera with me which was really a blessing. There was not much in the way of publicist BS to deal with back then. I adored the cool subjects who I was photographing and that certainly helped. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do in 1977.

What is the interaction between you and the subject in front of the camera like?

It’s about a comfort level. I am not crazy about over producing photos and external lighting. I operate the best with a small point and shoot type camera so I can get close to a subject. I try and speak to them. The last half of the session is always better than the first. It’s all about getting comfortable.

Why did you decide to take a break from photography and how does it feel to be back?

I took a break for all these days because suddenly in the early 80’s punk and glam rock was over and it was all disco and heavy metal. I loved disco, but magazines never brought disco band photos except for The Village People. I hated heavy metal. I did not want to listen to it and thought that the whole thing about hair bands was a joke.

The other reason I ditched my cameras and put my photos in storage was that the publicists started sniffing around on the scene and when they saw all of these teenage photographers driving around in their Mercedes Benz, it was sort of the kiss of death. Suddenly photo sessions where not done without their permission even though they never heard of any of the the European or Japanese magazines that I dealt with. They would just say no to everything out of ignorance. If you wanted to shoot a concert it was now restricted to the first three songs. I did not care about concerts anyways. Boring!

What got me back to taking photos again was all of my cool tumblr followers who loved my old 70’s photos of Joan Jett and Debbie. I posted hundreds of my old photos and my tumblr kids demanded more and they would ask me from time to time to shoot this band and that band so I sort of came out of photo hibernation.

It was not easy for me. I was full of anxiety taking photos again with all of the great young photographers out there today. I started getting some press on the internet about my modern photo sessions and was encouraged by my friend Olivier Zahm to take photos for their Purple Diary. I took the offer very seriously. I just took the bull by the horns and went with it. 

How do you think has the nature of celebrity photography changed, especially with the likes of the paparazzi?

Today it’s all controlled by the celebrity’s team. PR, manager, lawyer with a sprinkling of their glam squads. That is the reason there was this massive interest in paparazzi photography over the last decade. Readers wanted to see the real deal. The editor photo business including paparazzi is a disaster. The internet destroyed some of the greatest publications and their budgets. It will never come back.

Why do you think celebrities and musicians are so fascinating to the everyday consumer?

They just want to know a bit more about someone who they look up to and respect. I was that way with Dylan when I was a kid and with Lindsay Lohan today.

What was the most memorable photograph you ever took?

For sure the evening that I met Bob Dylan back in 1976, and shook his hand. He told me that I looked just like him and that he wanted me to bring up this young actor named Robert DeNiro to the dressing room so he could have his photo taken with him! This sort of shit does not happen on House Wives of Beverly Hills.

What projects do you have lined up for the future?

I am finishing up a new book designed by my good friend, photographer Sandy Kim. She is the best editor for my 70’s photos and has a great eye for design. The book is entitled Dog Dance and will be out in early fall. I am doing a compilation record for Opus Records featuring some of the cool bands I have photographed recently. Taking more photos, of course!

bradelterman.com

When featured in a commercial or documentative format, photography more often than not can be understood by many, however conceptual art photography and its intended purpose and message remains slightly more mysterious to some. Last week, Twin visited the Photographers’ Gallery, London, for the launch of Why Art Photography? – the latest book written by female photographer, critic and art historian, Lucy Soutter, that provides a deeper understanding and explanation to photography as an art form.

Throughout its six chapters, Soutter’s book explores themes such as ambiguity, objectivity and authenticity, whilst introducing the reader to various fresh perspectives and responses to existing debates, cogently defending the form of conceptual art as a valid use for photography. We were privileged enough to hear Lucy talk through the final chapter entitled ‘Beyond Photography’, which provides an excellent summary to the book’s key focal point. Here she examines the work of a number of contemporary conceptual artists, all of whom have merged photography with various other 2D, 3D and even abstract art forms, demonstrating that the photographic medium should never in any way be only limited to the ‘wall’.

Why Art Photography? published by Routledge, is available to purchase now.

Tags: Art, Lucy Soutter, photography, The Photographers Gallery

The Beastie Boys may have been about the fight for your right to party, but the cause of celebration for the Yeastie Girls exhibition is feminist movement Riot Grrrl.

Revisiting the ethos sparked by bands such as Bikini Kill in the early 90s, the show is an accumulation of art, music, literature and zines which delves into the social issues we still face today and how the movement has changed since the days of Kathleen Hanna & co.

With a limited run and long roster of creatives on display, just like a good punk rock concert this one is not to be missed.

Yeastie Girls exhibits until March 6 at Cultivate, Vyner Street, E2 9HE.

cultivatevynerstreet.com

Get your Tesco/Sainsbury’s/Asda trolley ready for tonight’s opening of Toby Evans’ debut solo exhibition, B-Mart.

Originally a graphic designer for companies such as Red Bull, Whistles and Sony Music, he has turned the Shoreditch art collective base DreamBagsJaguarShoes into his very own supermarket. Based on the packaging designs of bargain brands, Evans not only has the place stocked with his own re-designs of cola, baked beans & co., but also included the likes of uniformed staff and a pharmacy counter to complete the shopping experience. Thankfully, minus the self checkout queues and clean up on aisle 7 announcements.

B-Mart is on display from February 15th to April 7th at DreamBagsJaguarShoes, 32-36 Kingsland Road, E2 8DA.

toeplusbee.com

jaguarshoes.com

Tags: DreamBagsJaguarShoes, Toby Evans

Yesterday marked the premiere of the Collabor8te competition’s winning short films.

A funding project founded by Rankin and Nokia which enables upcoming talents to have their cinematic visions produced, the event was a showcase for everything from melancholic animation stories to suspenseful thrillers, all screened at the birthplace of British cinema in Regent Street.

We’re looking forward to seeing what new cinema innovators this platform will launch next.

collabor8te.com

Tags: Collabor8te, Rankin

Tonight, the ICA is hosting a panel discussion on the one and only Guy Bourdin. With his hyper real use of colour and surrealist techniques, the French photographer’s work for the likes of French Vogue and Charles Jourdan managed to strike the delicate balance between provocative, trailblazing and timeless.

Guy Bourdin: A Legacy will not only delve into his long-lasting influence on fashion imagery, but also show rare footage of Bourdin’s cine films. Leading the discussion will be curator and lecturer Judith Clark, Christie’s Director Philippe Garner and Samuel Bourdin, the artist’s only son and Exhibit A: Guy Bourdin co-author. Expect an insightful and interesting look at one of the 20th century’s most prolific image makers.

ica.org.uk

Tags: Guy Bourdin, Guy Bourdin: A Legacy, ICA

Iconic is an often overused word, but when someone manages to not only profoundly shape their art form, but also stay relevant 20 something years into their career, the term is more than justified. Opening today at the ICA, Juergen Teller: W00 is an expansive study of the Erlangen-born photographer’s work.

From his black and white images of Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s tour in 1991 to the provocative nudes of Vivienne Westwood, every honest and intimate portrait by the German photographer, alongside his longstanding collaborations with brands such as Helmut Lang and Marc Jacobs, not only commemorates his longevity as both a commercial and art photographer but also shows that aside from his trademark overexposed photography technique, what really makes a Juergen Teller image is his connection to the individual.

During a preview of the exhibition yesterday, Teller spoke openly about his work process and decades’ worth of pressing the shutter button:

“With every picture you have to be really open and honest about it and tell people what you want to do. I have no idea what I am looking for in an image, it really varies. I have to have complete concentration on the subject, I never have music playing or people standing behind me talking, it drives me crazy. I need the full attention, of their attention to me as I have attention to them, and that’s why it’s powerful and direct in every picture. My way of working hasn’t really changed that much since the beginning, but I have become a lot more careful, project-based and tend to work in series. I am more confident and secure within myself.  I want to explore and see things, I’m curious about life. You only live once, you can’t just be miserable and complain all the time, you have to take risks to do something exciting and that’s what I try to do. You have to fucking go out there and do it.”

Juergen Teller: Woo exhibits at ICA until March 17.

ica.org.uk

Tags: Helmut Lang, ICA, Juergen Teller, Kurt Cobain, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne WEstwood, Woo

This week, contemporary artists Alexandra Baumgartner, Beatriz Crespo, Florence Reidenbach and Su Ling Gyr are displaying their own personal confrontations with femininity at the GYNAECEUM exhibition in Berlin.

Curated by Tippi Ling, the installation is set in a 1920s apartment — a rather fitting location considering the exhibit’s questioning of female confinement to the domestic space.

Baumgartner’s collages will explore themes such as social constraints and the decay of the human body, whilst Crespo’s paintings examine the daily rituals in women’s lives. Reidenbach’s combination of folklore and fantasy delves into the creation of feminine identity, whereas Gyr analyses notions of beauty throughout history with her multimedia approach.

GYNAECEUM is not just a beautiful ode to the female artistic talent of today, but also an empowering retrospective on just how far we’ve come.

gynaeceum-exhibition.com

Tags: Alexandra Baumgartner, Beatriz Crespo, Berlin, exhibition, femininity, Florence Reidenbach and Su Ling Gyr, GYNAECEUM, Tippi Ling

This weekend, Twin’s art editor Francesca Gavin opened up her exhibit The Dark Cube at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. An experiment combining static art and UV light, the literally ‘glow in the dark’ experience applies neon colour and an innovative viewing experience of every artwork from Kasper Sonne’s Untitled (carpet) No. 3, which is given a colour kick thanks to luminescent paint, to Scott Treleaven’s painting The Body Electric, with five of the piece’s six floating bodies immersed in a neon orange glow for a further intensification of its dreamlike feeling. Like all good things subject to limited availability, the exhibit runs until next Monday.

Twin spoke to Gavin about modern-day psychedelia, electronic nature and teenage memories of Camden market’s Cyber Dog…

From disco to rave, UV lighting has had quite a history in it its own right. What made the time ripe to do this exhibition now?

I think it’s to do with our relationship with technology. Many of my exhibitions in the past have explored that relationship – how we look at screens, the psychedelic experience of going on the internet. This is actually my least high tech exhibition but I think that this now old fashioned technology feels very relevant in terms of contemporary feelings about the world of wires, electrics and Wifi around us.

How did you go about choosing which artists to display?

A few artists I know had worked with UV in the past – Jeremy Shaw, Jeremy Deller and Thomas Dozol. Many I had worked with before, others I had seen work that I felt would fit. It was very organic. A number of the artists – Oliver Laric, Anne de Vries, Juliette Bonneviot – were part of that Berlin post-internet scene which I felt really connected to the idea.

What was the process of putting it all together like, for example where there any changes in vision throughout the project?

In a way it was like putting on an exhibition in the dark! It was impossible to know the results until I turned on the black lights and saw the works glow. A lot of the artists were making things partly in normal light and at night with hand held small black lights. It felt quite risky compared to a normal exhibition when you just have to work with the hang and hope the screens work okay!

A large part of the exhibition aims at literally looking at things in a different light. Would you say that it is a reaction against the times of our short attention span digital generation or is it something else?

I think because we are so used to seeing the entire world through a screen that the process of looking at objects, at images, at things in real time is really important. Arguably something with political undertones. Thought it was fascinating see many of the hundreds of visitors who came during the opening on Nuit Blanche immediately want to engage with the work through their camera phones. UV also ends up being an interesting metaphor for the electronic nature we give to the world in our screen culture.

On a more personal note, what are your own fondest black light memories?

I grew up near Camden market and when I was at the end of my teens it was the early days of techno. My sister was going to free parties and was part of the whole Spiral Tribe scene. Very hardcore. She was obsessed with reflective materials and circuitry. We used to go to this T shirt stall in a sort of cave-cellar there by a label called Cyber Dog (which over the years turned into a crazy huge techno mecca) and I bought a shirt with a circuitry star on it that glowed in UV… For a brief moment it was the epitome of cool.

What future projects do you have lined up?

No shows lined up quite yet – I’ve done three this year which feels like a lot! Possibly an exhibition at a project space in Belleville in the spring. And of course the acres of writing for Dazed, Twin, AnOther, Sleek and the rest.

The Dark Cube is on display until October 15th at Palais de Tokyo.

palaisdetokyo.com

roughversion.blogspot.com

Tags: Anne de Vries, francesca gavin, Jeremy Deller, Jeremy Shaw, Juliette Bonneviot, Oliver Laric, Palais de Tokyo, The Dark Cube, Thomas Dozol

At first glance, Yayoi Kusama and the house of Louis Vuitton may not seem like the most harmonious couple. One is an eccentric artist known for her psychedelic installations, the other is a luxurious and world-renowned label under the multi-billion pound LVMH helm. However, just like in one of the Japanes artist’s polka dot paintings, there is more than meets the eye.

Both Kusama and Vuitton embody the idea of plunging oneself headfirst into an artistic vision. As much as the flame red-haired Kusama is an artwork in her own right, the house of Louis Vuitton, under the guidance of Marc Jacobs, has made train journey and carousel ride runway shows a continuously extraordinary event of the Ready To Wear season, year in, year out.

This month sees the release of the duo’s range of clothing, accessories and footwear, all covered in Kusama’s signature polka dot prints, coinciding with the opening of the artist’s exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. On August 24, Kusama’s designs for the house will also take over London department store Selfridges with a 24-window display showcasing the new collection, as well as the transformation of the Concept Store inside, thanks to the artist’s signature giant pumpkins. The idea of fashion being art may seem like a tired cliche, but Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton prove there is still a lot of exciting invigoration to bring to the table.

louisvuittonkusama.com

whitney.org

selfridges.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c_FtspWyie0

Tags: collaboration, Louis Vuitton, Whitney Museum of American Art, Yayoi Kusama

London-born photographer Kate Bellm’s work is all about letting loose. But don’t let the carefree attitude behind her images fool you: with her colourful and striking images, the young talent has already worked for clients such as Adidas, Harrods and Fleet Ilya, as well as exhibited at venues such as the Galerie M. H. Karst in Paris, alongside household names such as Terry Richardson and Nick Knight.

Twin caught up with the photography wünderkind to chat about cosmopolitan creative contrasts, Guy Bourdin and why nudity equals freedom…

What first sparked your interest in photography?

I liked everything about photography from the moment I started: playing around with different techniques in the darkroom and in camera, meeting different people all the time and making imaginary scenarios and memories that are all yours. My favourite thing about it is definitely the memories you save, imagining the photos in 30 years time when you look back on these small worlds of different people who have travelled and inspired you for all the shots.

Working between Berlin and London, what creative differences do you see between the two cities?

For me they are worlds apart. Berlin is all about characters and crazy shoots, freedom, nature and getting naked, breaking into old houses and shooting amazing untouched spots. I feel like a lot in London has been seen before as so much photography is done there and obviously the work is much more commercial and fashion based. Nevertheless, I am inspired there too, by my family and where I grew up in the countryside which evidently is the location for most of my shoots in England.

Some of your photos have a quite Guy Bourdin-esque feel to them, would you say that he is a big influence? Where else do you find inspiration?

Yeah, he totally inspires me. I have had all his books since I was a teenager and actually was just in a group show with his work! [The ICONS OF TOMORROW exhibit at Christophe Guye Galerie in Zurich] That was definitely a dream come true. Also, I am really inspired by all my friends in Berlin right now, they always come by my studio and together we think of crazy new techniques to develop my photos with and have big painting and illustration sessions together.

On the subject of Bourdin, what role does sexuality play in your work?

I just love sexy photos. I mean it’s not even underlying anymore for me unless I’m working it into a fashion shoot. I like shooting my friends naked, for me it’s complete freedom!

As female photographer how do you attempt to represent women in your images?

I represent them as free and having a good time in whatever situation we find ourselves in. I want people to realise that naked images are not a big deal, it’s actually more a state of mind of being happy with your body. But somehow without even realising it, the girls always look insanely sexy.

What work can we expect to see from you in the future?

More road trips, naked girls, skateboarders and paint bombs. Issue 2 of my zine ROCKERS is coming out next week. It will be a Girls edition, so full of all my favourite ladies. I also have a group show coming up in Berlin in September where we are building an acid forest full of colour-painted wood, space skate ramps, wigwams, bone chandeliers and other mystical wonders. Watch out for it on my blog: katesworld.tumblr.com.

katebellm.com

Tags: Galerie M. H. Karst, Guy Bourdin, Kate Bellm, Nick Knight, photography, ROCKERS zine, terry richardson

The irrationality of racial prejudice is at the centre of Leah Gordon’s new photographic work Caste.  The artist who has worked in Haiti for many years has created a series of photographs based upon the coldly colour based measuring system created by a man called Moreau de St Mercy in Eighteenth-century colonial Haiti.

The French colonialist, who lived in Haiti during the slave plantation period created a surreal and unstomachable taxonomy of race that sought to place the colour of skin in order of superiority, running from Blanche to Noir, with all kinds of de St Mercy’s imaginative name stretches in-between.

On discovering this history of categorisation, Gordon’s response was to cast herself at one end and her partner, Andre Eugene, a Haitian sculptor, at the other end.  The result, Caste, in effect topples the boundaries put up between people and their relationships. The use of Eighteenth-century clothing invokes a feeling of detachment from the past while also ridiculing those lingering prejudices towards colour and skin.

Twin spoke to the artist about her new work…

Tags: Caste, Haiti, Leah Gordon, Riflemaker