Whether you like it hot or cool, summer is sizzling with photographic offerings from the Robert Klein galleries. At Ars Libri satellite gallery in SoWa, Jim Dow’s “Taco Trucks, Taquerias and Carritos” burst with colorful flavor while the Newbury Street gallery highlights the cool classics of 20th century fashion photography in the group show, “Women in Clothes.” Exhibits at both locations run through September 12, 2015.
“Alix Dress, Fashion, Lud with columns, 1938” by Horst P. Horst (courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery, Boston)
“Women in Clothes” features the exemplars of couture photography over several decades, with a vintage Man Ray print dating from 1925, Horst P. Horst work for Vogue from the 1930’s and 1940’s, Yousuf Karsh and Irving Penn prints spanning the 1950’s, two rogue color prints from Gordon Parks in 1958 and William Klein’s spirited images from the 1950’s and 1960’s. These photographs are drop-dead gorgeous, but it its also fascinating to note the cultural shifts reflected in the fashion photography of glamorous women by these artists who defined their field. Because the images are almost exclusively of single figures, the iconic style of each photographer is delightfully accentuated.
“Hat and Five Roses, Paris, France, 1956” by William Klein (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston)
In “Taco Trucks, Taquerias and Carritos”, documentary photographer Jim Dow brings us down to street level with his celebration of Latin American food stands from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, London to Houston. Over the past decade, Dow has immortalized the source of what, for many, is a daily staple of life in large-format photographs revealing beauty in the mundane. Despite the span of years and geography, differences in time and location are difficult to detect, as each truck or stand is dominated by vibrant personal decorations that seem to harken from another era. Unsentimental and usually absent of people, Dow’s images are nonetheless highly biographical, bringing us an alluring carousel of color and lights centered around the universal lust for food. It is a joyful homage to these mom and pop shops, what Dow calls “vehicles of dreams, carrying the weight of a whole family’s aspirations for financial success”.
“El Pecas, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, 2008” by Jim Dow (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston)
For more information about these shows and for directions and hours for both gallery locations, go to: http://www.robertkleingallery.com/index.php
Tonight, July 23rd, from 5:00 – 8:00pm, you can experience Summer Arts Walk, a free arts event on Newbury Street! Robert Klein Gallery will be open, along with other Newbury Street galleries, accompanied by street-level art demonstrations, refreshments, hors d’oeuvres and live music.
Feature Image: “Carrito El Oriental, Constanera Sur, Buenos Aires, Capital Federal, Argentina, 2010” by Jim Dow (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston)
“Skin-tight suit, Malibu, California, 1958” by Gordon Parks (courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery, Boston)
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