Henry Leutwyler "Neverland Lost: A Portrait of Michael Jackson"
Foley Gallery
This event has ended.
As a portrait photographer, Leutwyler has always been interested in investigating the stories told by the artifacts that make up people's lives. In 2009, Neverland Ranch was packed and crated in preparation for a public auction of Michael Jackson's possessions. Leutwyler was sent to California to photograph the iconic studded white glove and spent three days sifting through more than a thousand items. In the end it took a second trip back to the warehouse in April 2009 to complete the entire story.
The photographs, many of which are staged on a simple black background, range from bejeweled costumes to a storage box lid filled with small Wizard of Oz figurines. It's the simplicity of his artifacts that capture the life of the King of Pop the public never saw. As Leutwyler puts it:
It is said that the Pharaohs built tombs to reveal their lives to future generations. Michael Jackson sacrificed his childhood to the calling of his musical gift. Neverland was the pyramid he constructed to a lost childhood.
Swiss born, Leutwyler is an internationally acclaimed and award winning photographer. A creative force in Paris for a decade, he moved to New York City in 1996, where he lives with his wife and two children. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Esquire.
Media
Schedule
from February 24, 2011 to April 02, 2011
March 17th 7pm; artist presentation and Q and A
Opening Reception on 2011-02-24 from 18:00 to 20:00