I’m a fan of Duane Hanson; known for his hyperrealist sculptures of everyday people and the down-and-out, and who also used photography as a primary means of developing his vision. But my admiration is nothing compared to the passion brought to him by Daniel Filipacchi, press tycoon and a renowned collector of surrealist art. In the 80’s, when the Hachette Filipacchi group’s headquarters were on the Champs Elysées, in Paris, Daniel Filipacchi had installed, in his office, one of the most famous works of Hanson – the naked woman – on his sofa. The face of his visitors was always a joy to see. One day, for a retrospective, the Whitney Museum of New York borrowed amongst others another sculpture: the woman with the basket. By mischievousness, Daniel Filipacchi placed a $5 bill in the woman’s basket. A few months later, he went to see the exhibition in New York, checked that the bill was still there and took it back. He was immediately arrested by a guard. You guess the rest.
Today, Duane Hanson’s Polaroids are on view at the Aperture Gallery, in New York. The exhibition is great. With a meticulous eye, Hanson shot a series of pictures to sketch out his sculptures, photographing his subjects in subtle gestures looking for the pose that felt most real. Hanson looked for the perfect tweak of the hand or shift of the gaze that would bring him closer to conceiving the end result, a sculpture that was both an unbelievably lifelike person and simultaneously a broader character type. The Polaroids on view in Duane Hanson Polaroids: 1979–1994 were often pinned to the wall, or spattered with paint, so they are not pristine but scarred by the artist’s hand. These Polaroids, of which there are nearly one thousand in the archive, are treasured historical documents of the artist’s process, showing not only the sitters but also the sculptures in various stages of development. Individually, they are witty, nostalgic time capsules that are both strange and playful, fascinating photographs.
Jean-Jacques Naudet
Duane Hanson, Polaroids: 1979–1994
February 16–March 23, 2017
Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
