CUNNING, PROVOCATIVE AND IN NEW YORK!

Everyone with an interest in contemporary photography must have heard the name Fotografiska at least once. The museum opened its doors to visitors in May 2010 in a 116-year-old Art Nouveau building in Stockholm’s Södermalm district. It was founded by the brothers Jan and Per Broman who collectively brought different perspectives into the equation. With annual visitors exceeding the half a million mark for the past few years, the immensely popular museum seems to know how to prolong this momentum. Fotografiska took the definition of a museum beyond the classical understanding from the very beginning. In addition to exhibition and event areas, the venue was among the first to offer a restaurant with a sustainable menu, a bar, a café, and a bistro. Fotografiska might be dedicated to attracting visitors with a progressive 360-degree art experience, but it did not shy from taking on the daunting task of renovating a historical building with spectacular architecture in its new location that opened in New York in 2019. The five-storey, gigantic Church Mission House building in Manhattan spreading over an area of 4,200 square meters, has turned into one of New York’s most popular modern museums. This year will see a comprehensive exhibition that spreads out on all floors of the building: Make BELIEVE by David LaChapelle. Open from September 9 to January 8, the exhibition features a wide selection of works by the artist who moved to New York at the age of 17 to become one of the most prolific photographers of the 21st century. Make BELIEVE is the first major solo exhibition in a North American museum of LaChapelle, who was originally hired by Andy Warhol at an early age to work for Interview Magazine where he quickly made a reputation with his use of colour and surreal scenes.

Chapelle might be one of the most printed photographers in the world. He had photo albums released in 1996, 1999, 2006 and 2017. Coined the ‘Fellini of Photography’, his distinctive style can be easily noticed in his creative avenues that span music videos, film and stage projects, and fashion photography. Some of his most iconic images to appear in the exhibition include Kim Kardashian posing as a half-naked Biblical saint, Tupac Shakur in a bubble bath, Lil’ Kim adorning her body with Louis Vuitton logos, and Naomi Campbell dipped in milk. There is no doubt that LaChapelle’s hyper-realistic and cunning perspective will make a big impact in New York and take the success of Fotografiska one step further. A trailblazing artist at a pioneering museum sounds like a treat for art enthusiasts. What do you expect from a museum with a homepage that opens with the motto ‘Have fun. Stay late. Get deep. Spill your drink’?

fotografiska.com