Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, untitled (Marie Superimposed), c 1940
Eugene von Bruenchenhein (1910-1983) took thousands of photographs of his wife to explore the pin-up aesthetic, rococo charm and tropical exoticism. Although self-taught, his works can be found in prominent collections such as the American Folk Art Museum in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington.
The Gallery of Everything features celebrated names from the global histories of self-taught photography, alongside lesser-known practitioners working outside the mainstream. Period examples and one- off prints will illustrate the fine line between the professional and the vernacular – a notional division now dissolved by curatorial practice.
Amongst the material to be exhibited are: staged images of his wife by the American polymath, Eugene von Bruenchenhein; post-Soviet auto portraits by hospitalised auteur Alexander Lobanov; naturalistic voyeurism of hermetic Czech artist Miroslav Tichý; and the celebrated French Quarter images of New Orleans resident Ernst Bellocq, himself discovered by contemporary photographer, Lee Friedlander.
This is the first time that this material has been exhibited together in a commercial context in the UK.
The Gallery of Everything
www.gallevery.com
Photo London 2022
12 – 15 May 2022
Somerset House
www.photolondon.org
