On the cusp of celebrating its 30th anniversary, L.A.'s venerable G. Ray Hawkins gallery kicks off festivities with a breathtaking photo exhibition "Sizzle: Women in Entertainment".
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IN A CULTURE SATURATED WITH CELEBRITY IMAGES, photographing the most recognizable faces in the world presents a challenge for even the most accomplished photographers. How to make these faces come alive in a way that is unique and spellbinding? The great portraits, of course, find something surprising or unexpected in someone we thought we knew. Such magic is currently on display at Los Angeles' G. Ray Hawkins Gallery (300 N. Crescent Heights, 323-655-4180), where the photography exhibit "Sizzle: Women in Entertainment" gets under the skin and behind the makeup.
The exhibit curated by Hawkins spans nearly a century and, on the surface, looks like just a stunning array of the silver screen's sexiest sirens. But as a serious art dealer, art collector and gallerist for nearly 30 years, Hawkins' approach goes deeper. For him the exhibit is about "sexuality, sensuality, desire, success and beauty, but it's more than just physical," he says. "It's about an inner sparkle."
Hawkins opened his gallery in January of 1975. He says it was the first in Los Angeles dedicated to photography as a fine art, at a time when there were fewer than 10 such galleries around the country and photography was still viewed by collectors and museums as a craft. Exploring uncharted territory, Hawkins knew he had to open the gallery with a photographer whose artistic credentials could not be questioned. So he debuted with Man Ray, a founder of the New York Dada movement and a photographer whose famous sitters included James Joyce, Coco Chanel and Ernest Hemingway. And the gallery was in business.
The response was slow and steady. "We built the market one collector at a time," Hawkins says. "I've always said that unlike the traditional gallery that represents artists and tries to market their work, I represent collectors. So I look for things that satisfy my need for discovery. And when I find something that's really thrilling, there's a great payoff when I start showing that to my collector friends and they get the same thrill."
As the gallery is based in the showbiz capital of the world, are some of these collectors high-profile Hollywood types? You bet. But Hawkins, who is decidedly non-Hollywood, is mum on the subject. "Oh, there are a number of entertainers that collect. It's up to them whether or not they want to come out. As a rule, they collect things that have power, that the image itself has a powerful emotional statement."
Hawkins says one of the biggest thrills of his career was setting the world record at the time for the highest price ever paid for a single photograph, the postcard-size vintage photo "Chez Mondrian" by André Kertész that went for $250,000 in 1991. He revels in the crowds he's been able to draw for exhibits of big-name artists like Richard Avedon and Berenice Abbott ("I've had 2,200 people come to the gallery here for an opening night").
He expects "Sizzle" to be another huge hit. "I mean, look at this photograph of Marlene Dietrich," he says, pointing to a famous 1953 full-length portrait by John Engstead of the actress, dressed to the nines in a shimmering evening gown and a fur stole. "She's in her sixties. And she's just plain delicious!"
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Lauren Lyster