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BARON WOLMAN:
Forever Young Photographs of Rock and Roll Stars from the 1960s Exhibition Dates: November 29, 2002 - January 15, 2003 Opening Reception for the Artist: Friday, November 29, 2002, 5-7 p.m. |
| Andrew Smith Gallery at 203 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, NM 87501 celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday with an exhibit by Baron Wolman titled “Forever Young,” featuring photographs of rock and roll stars of the 1960s. During the opening reception for Mr. Wolman on Friday, November 29, from 5 to 7 p.m., there will be a classic sixties rock and roll band at Evangelo's, directly across the street from Andrew Smith Gallery. During rock music's heyday in the 1960s Baron Wolman was the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. In an era when photographers and musicians were part of the same explosive scene, Wolman had virtually unlimited access to his subjects. He made the most of it, photographing the royalty of the 60s pop and rock world. Highlighting the exhibit are Wolman's limited edition, 20" x 24" platinum prints of his best known photographs. The images are bold and energetic, bordered by lively brushstrokes around the edges of the photographs where the platinum emulsion was applied. Wearing round glasses and a leather jacket, Jerry Garcia, San Francisco, 1969, smiles benevolently at the camera, his right hand (missing the middle finger) raised in greeting. Janis Joplin, San Francisco, 1967, had wrapped herself in a sequin cloak when Wolman took her photograph in her Haight-Ashbury apartment. Her luminous face shines like the star she was about to become. A pencil-thin Mick Jagger, Oakland, 1969, strikes a serpentine pose as he screams lyrics into the microphone. With his striped Uncle Sam top hat and long scarf he seems to be half magician and half Mad Hatter. Pete Townsend, San Francisco, 1967, was wearing a flamboyant jacket and white ruffled shirt when Wolman captured him triumphantly raising his arms in the middle of a concert. Wolman’s photograph of Jimi Hendrix, San Francisco, 1968, is a frozen moment of peak excitement, as if the great guitarist was inhaling the chords vibrating from his electric guitar. Looking like the mad monk, Rasputin, a tangle-haired Frank Zappa, Los Angeles, 1968, regarded the camera with a deadpan expression as he sat at the controls of an ancient bulldozer. Other photographs on exhibit include Grace Slick at Woodstock, 1969, Jim Morrison, 1967, Joan Baez, Carmel Valley, 1968, Miles Davis, 1969, James Taylor, 1969 and many more. Baron's professional photographic career began in West Berlin in the 1960s where he was stationed with the military. From Berlin he sold his first photo essay for publication, images of life behind the then-new Berlin Wall. Determined to work as a photo-journalist, after his discharge he moved from Germany to Los Angeles and then to San Francisco. In 1967, Wolman met Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone. Wenner asked Baron to be the magazine's first chief photographer and for the next three years Wolman's photographs of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Rolling Stones, and other celebrated, soon-to-be-famous musicians were the graphic centerpieces of Rolling Stone's layout. In 1970, Wolman started his own magazine, Rags, described as the "Rolling Stone of fashion." Creative and irreverent, the magazine's 13 issues were an artistic success. He followed this venture by learning to fly and making aerial landscapes from the window of his small Cessna. These photographs appeared in two successful books, California From the Air: The Golden Coast, and The Holy Land: Israel From the Air. In 1974, Wolman founded Squarebooks Publishing, a California-based press that continues to publish an eclectic list of illustrated, quality books and calendars. Baron Wolman has lived in Santa Fe since 2001. The exhibit continues through January 15, 2003 Liz Kay |
