Martin Schoeller: Close Up

“A photographic close-up is perhaps the purest form of portraiture, creating a confrontation between the viewer and the subject that daily interaction makes impossible, or at least impolite,” says artist Martin Schoeller. Inspired by his early exposure to both the celebrity portrait work of Annie Leibovitz and the formal austerity of German artists, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Martin Schoeller’s photographic portraits provide a topographic and serial representation of various human faces. A native of Germany, Schoeller, who now lives and works in New York, makes portraits of well-known actors, politicians, and musicians, as well as the distinctly “un-famous,” who are presented at parity, enabling us to question our notions about celebrity, personality, and likeness. These 48 large-scale photographs, with their penetrating detail, give us unflinching closeups that at once decontextualize the face as they detail its landscape. As a result, each image provides a compelling visual topography and an opportunity to precisely examine the apparent complexities and contradictions of each subject. When hung en masse, Schoeller’s photographs take on a haunting presence, as if his subjects are gazing back at the viewer while we gaze at them. Schoeller’s most famous work, and the subject of this exhibition, was developed when he began as a portrait photographer. In his “de-famed” portraits of celebrities, politicians, and unknown but intriguing faces, using the same lighting from the same angle, Schoeller achieves a unity of expression that brings out the personality and individuality of his subjects. It is in these portraits that the truth within his subjects, their surface and inner expressions, is most clearly revealed.

This exhibition is organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions.