Little knew Man Ray when he moved from New York to Paris in 1921 that the path he took to finance his experimental and avant-garde work in other mediums, would , eventually, establish the roots for fashion advertisement, photographers and creative directors as we know them today.
For twenty years, the biggest names of the Fashion Industry (Schiaparelli, Lanvin, Chanel, Vionnet,...) chose him to immortalise their creations, always under one premise, to let him stay true to his artistic principles, regardless of the medium he used.
Man Ray found in fashion photography, not only the best way to support himself but, the ideal medium to keep growing as an artist and spread his ideas, the ones were propagated and defended by the Fashion Industry, no matter how controversial they were.
"Man Ray et La Mode" has opened its doors in Marseille, France, covering those short but intense twenty years of collaborations between Man Ray and the Iconic couturiers of the time and his legacy.
The exhibition is divided in two different acts.
The first one, "Man Ray, a fashion photographer", on view at the Cantini Museum, is a dialogue between Man Ray and the Fashion Industry, through 200 photographs.
The counterpoint, hosted at the Château Borély Museum of Decorative Arts, Earthenware and Fashion, is "Fashion in Man Ray's Time", where the visitor will be able to explore the world of High-End Fashion at the inter-war period through a language created with clothes, jewellery, images and objects.
Louisa Guinness Gallery has contributed to this exceptional display with one of our favourite treasures from our collection, a pair of gold earrings by Man Ray, produced by GEM Montebello c. 1970 and worn by Catherine Deneuve (photographed by Man Ray 1968), on view until the 8th of March, 2020.
