In their series Photo Spotlight, Holden Luntz Gallery presents the work of Bernie Taupin based on the photographs of Terry O’Neill.
Two Sides of the Sixties
Terry O’Neill was both a great friend and an inspiration. His personality behind the camera was an infectious and kinetic pantomime of chaotic charm.
Terry was a star in his own firmament as much as the icons he photographed over the decades. His images are indelible classics. Even if you don’t know who took them, many are as familiar as old friends.
He chronicled the coolest of the cool and captured them in all their legendary magnificence. His subjects are so alive, so aware and so relaxed that I can only imagine Terry’s good humor and energy made for their unique collaborative chemistry.
That he trusted me and allowed me to cherry pick his portfolio speaks volumes of his sense of adventure. I’m beyond grateful that this project was conceived and completed in his lifetime and that it was a collaboration he fully endorsed and embraced.
I will always miss him, but when I think of him, it’s his spirited direction and laughter that still ricochets around my head.
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John Taupin. B 1950. Sleaford, United Kingdom
Bernie Taupin is a life-long artist. In the early 1990’s painting became the main thrust of his creative endeavors. In his early work Taupin was inspired by ground-breaking abstract expressionists including Franz Kline, Mark Rothko and Hans Hoffmann, and Anselm Kiefer in scale and materials.
Taupin says, “As in any creative field, we start by emulating work we like, following the path that ultimately leads to finding our own vision, a style we feel is original and unique in its own beliefs, on its own merits.”
Taupin artwork evolved from Ab-Ex explorations to a level of self-satisfaction followed by experimentations with text-based content and minimalist pop-art concepts. By 2016 and 2017 works become sculptural constructions off and through the canvas and bound with cord and wire. Expressing with found objects and re-purposed material and artifacts, Taupin’s multi-layered creations include manipulated flags, scorched canvas, wax, wire, wood, cardboard, fabric, resin.
“The imagination is the most powerful tool artists possess enabling us to conjure up beautiful distraction for the eyes and ears. My dimensional work is simply the visual extension of what I have spent my life creating through words.” – Bernie Taupin
Holden Luntz Gallery
332 Worth Ave.
Palm Beach, FL 33480
www.holdenluntz.com
