ON SET WITH CHRIS VON WANGENHEIM

December 08 - December 21, 2020

The Selects Gallery is pleased to present “Glamour & Danger: On Set with Chris Von Wangenheim”, an immersive exhibition featuring seven of the artist’s most iconic images.

In the 1970s, the photographer Chris Von Wangenheim radically challenged the public taste with high fashion photographs capturing the zeitgeist and cultural changes of the era. His images have remained largely unseen since his tragic death in 1981 and are shown for the first time 40 years later. Curated to feature some of his most recurring themes such as violence, sex, glamour, and punk, the exhibition includes photos shot between 1976 and 1979 which were some of the most talked-about avant-garde images of the time.




This exhibition features two interactive virtual gallery rooms. Please click on a photo within a room to discover more.
Car Fire Image
NIGHTLIFE IS YOUR DIOR,
PATTI HANSEN,
1976
Patti Hansen embodied seventies glamour, and was no stranger to nightlife as a frequenter of glitzy NYC nightclub Studio 54, where she would later meet her rockstar husband Kieth Richards, guitarist for The Rolling Stones.

This photograph was taken for a Christian Dior ad campaign. In this scene, Hansen epitomizes the juxtaposition between danger and opulence found in 1970s New York, casually walking away from a demolished vehicle while nonchalantly sporting a slinky evening gown and mink coat.
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Lisa Taylor
LISA
TAYLOR,
1976
Taylor was the face of many large fashion brands in the 1970s, including Dior and Calvin Klein. In this Dior advert, the model is shown with a doberman biting down on her bejeweled arm. Referring to this shoot Taylor said, “As an animal lover, I was amused to find that a hand-and-arm model had been hired as a stunt double just in case I was afraid of the dog. I gave her the afternoon off.”

"The controversial Dior advertising campaign was spearheaded by Gene Frederico, one of the top art directors of the time, who selected Chris to breathe new life into the then staid fashion house. It was a genius move to unleash this edgy young photographer on the hallowed fashion house’s image and the ads Chris created over five years were the most shocking and talked about at the time.”

-- ROGER PADILHA, author of Gloss: The Work of Chris von Wangenheim
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Grace Jones
GRACE JONES,
1977
This photograph of Grace Jones was taken as part of a shoot for her feature in the October 1977 issue of Interview Magazine. This same year, Jones had released her debut album "Portfolio" after spending two years releasing various singles, and establishing herself as a successful model in the early seventies. Like Chris, Jones often employed a harsh, hypersexualized aesthetic in her work. Her fiery spirit and sex appeal are perfectly captured in this scene depicting her laying nude upon a taxidermy leopard. Additionally, this photo highlights the intersection of ferocity and beauty using the image of a vicious, tooth-bearing animal, a recurring theme in Chris’ work.
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Christie Brinkley 2
CHRISTIE BRINKLEY
& WHISKEY,
1977
This photo exemplifies Wangenheim’s skill for combining the sensual with the violent. Whiskey, the Doberman, is shown biting down on Brinkley’s ankle, who is sporting metallic stilettos and crimson nails.

"Chris loved shooting women with animals, particularly menacing looking dobermans. This picture is one of many 'Woman and Beast' images – a running theme of women posed seductively with horses, dogs, birds, etc. much to the chagrin of the stylists and his assistants.”

— ROGER PADILHA, author of Gloss: The Work of Chris von Wangenheim
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“I realized that getting my picture was more important to me than the discomfort of someone not understanding, or someone’s opposition to my goals.”

— CHRIS VON WANGENHEIM

Fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim  is one of the most avant-garde image-makers in the 20th century. He ranked next to Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin in his encapsulation of the 1970s zeitgeist.

In his relatively short career (between the years 1968 and 1981) he produced now-iconic imagery for every top fashion publication of the 70’s, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Interview. He also created unforgettable campaigns for Valentino, Dior, Calvin Klein, and Revlon.
Christie Brinkley
CHRISTIE BRINKLEY
& WHISKEY,
1977
American supermodel Christie Brinkley was one of Wangenheim's most famous muses, and appeared in many of his photos.

"The thing was to try to shock. So it was a reaction to what had come before. And as the images got more and more shocking, it got to the point where they became a bit disturbing. Photographers like Chris first and foremost wanted to do the pictures that were page stoppers. You would look through a magazine and literally stop in your tracks once you got to his photos and, once you had stopped, a dialogue could ensue."

— CHRISTIE BRINKLEY
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INTERVIEW WITH SANDY LINTER
2020
"I WAS IN AWE OF HIM" — Sandy Linter

In this exclusive interview with The Selects Gallery, superstar makeup artist Sandy Linter, who worked with legendary photographers like Helmut Newton, Deborah Turbeville, Francesco Scavullo, Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, talks about working with the photographer Chris von Wangenheim. For the first time on camera, Linter shares the story behind the famous picture of her on the fence with America’s first supermodel, Gia Carangi, that is now a part of history.

Camera: Stephanie Michael, Hsiang Hsi Lu; video editing: Hsiang Hsi Lu.
Gia Carangi & Sandy Linter
GIA CARANGI AND
SANDY LINTER,
1979
Gia Carangi, considered by many to be the first supermodel, was also a beloved muse of Chris Von Wangenheim. She is pictured here after a fashion shoot with celebrity makeup artist Sandy Linter.

“Those Gia images, they were shot after they’d wrapped a shoot with her in streetwear, like, a bomber and a pair of jeans. But I think what he liked about working with someone like Gia was, it wasn’t hard to get her to do the crazy stuff. She was actually living in a subversive way—she hung out at CBGB’s, she dated girls—and that’s what he wanted to capture, in the most immediate way possible. It’s like, Gia naked behind a chain-link fence, making out with a woman—that’s probably not far from the truth of what she’d have been doing that night, anyway.”

— ROGER PADILHA, author of Gloss: The Work of Chris Von Wangenheim
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SUSAN
SUSAN
SARANDON,
1978
This photograph was taken by Wangenheim for the cover of Crawdaddy, an American music magazine, for their May 1978 publication. It features Susan Sarandon front and center, only a couple years after her breakout role in the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

Chris' affinity toward dangerous aesthetics is evident with his references to 1970s punk subculture as seen in this photograph with the inclusion of images like the exposed blade and tattooed breast.
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“Chris’ images have remained unseen to the general public since his death and, at the exception of the excellent book published 3 years by the Padilha brothers which triggered some online coverage, his work is virtually nonexistent on the web. It was very important to us create an informative digital presence for Chris online through this exhibition,” said Marie Audier D’Alessandris, founder of The Selects Gallery.

To celebrate Chris’ legacy, The Selects Gallery hosted a live online event discussing the life and work of the legendary fashion photographer with those who knew him.

The exhibition also includes 5 short videos documenting how Chris von Wangenheim’s daring work is a sharp-lit time-capsule of that vibrant and tumultuous era, his muses, his personal life and his influence.

See more videos by The Selects Gallery on our YouTube Channel.

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY SERIES BELOW

 

Text: Marie Audier D'Alessandris, Antonina Zharko. Video editing: Hsiang Hsi Lu