Gilles Larrain

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Gilles Larrain in his studio, photographed by a friend

Born in Dalat, Vietnam in 1938, Gilles Larrain was first a painter, who went through the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and one of the pioneers in kinetic art in the 1960's, using air, smoke, light, water and neon tubes. Fascinated by the complementarity between paintings and photography, he became later a New York photographer and artist in Soho, where he realized among other works well-known posters of Miles Davis, Sting and Billy Joel.

He also photographed John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin and Salvador Dalí, and created record covers for Sting, Miles Davis and Billy Joel. Captivated by the flamenco aesthetic, Gilles has since become a great follower of this art, even taking up the guitar. His camera has captured the soul of flamenco in one of those rare artistic conjunctions where technical wisdom and experience become melded with the most difficult to express emotions. His works can be viewed at his official website: www.GillesLarrain.com

1 Main past works
2 Main exhibitions
3 Quote
4 Related links

[edit] Main past works

1973 Idols (edited by Raph Gibson) "Photographs are my reactions to the provocation of beauty - whatever that may be"
1985 Exquisite creatures, together with Robert Mapplethorpe, Deborah Turbeville, Ray Volkmann : visions of the ineffable beauty of women
1985 American Ballet Theatre, Souvenir book; Mikhail Baryshnikov, director.
1988 The profoto book of flash together with Annie Leibovitz, Yukio Shimizu, Jan Bengtsson : the history of studio lighting
1991 Mirrors of memory, one-man show, Dallas Meadows Museum
1993 Daily life, with Antonio Vizcaino : ancient history of Mexico
1997 Jean-Marc HUITOREL, Francis LACLOCHE, Photographie d'une collection, 2. OEuvres photographiques de la Caisse des dépôts et consignations, Paris, Hazan, 1997, 173 p., ill. NB et coul., invent.

[edit] Main exhibitions

1966 Gilles Larrain - Southampton East Gallery, NYC, USA - Paintings
1966 50 New-York artists - Max's Kansas City, NYC, USA - Group show
1967 Light, Motion, Space - Walker Art Center - Minneapolis, MN - Kinetic art (First kinetic art exhibition in the USA) - Group show Curated by Willoughby Sharp
1967 Luminism - The Artist Club - NYC, USA - Group show - Kinetic Art Curated by Willoughby Sharp
1967 Espace dynamique en constant mouvement, 5eme Biennale, Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1968 Neon Sculptures, I - Benson Gallery, Long Island, NY, USA
1968 Neon Sculptures, II - Neue Kunst Museum - Munich, D
1968 6th Annual Avant-Garde Festival, NYC, USA
1969 Inflated Children's Paintings, Shakespeare's Theater, NYC, USA
1969 Induction Square, Suffolk Museum, NYC, USA
1969 Tubulaire, avec Francois Dallegret, prix Les Levine, Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris, France
1971 Art et technologie, Centre Sigma, Bordeaux, France - group show
1972 The objective eye, Galerie Baecker, Bochum, Germany
1973 Exposition mondiale de photographie, Hambourg, Germany - group show
1975 90 Black and White Prints, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten (Palais des Beaux-Arts), Brussels, Belgium - Group show
1975 Faces and Spaces, Services culturesl francais, Ambassade de France, NYC, USA
1978 Portraits, The Harkness House Gallery, New York
1978 Portraits II, The Nary Center, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
1980 I Sing The Body Electric', The Squibb Gallery, Princeton, New Jersey, USA - Group show
1981 Interfaces, Aspen Institute, Aspen, CO, USA
1982 Interfaces, Wye Plantation, Aspen Institute, Queenstown, DC
1982 Portraits, Agathe Gaillard Gallery, Paris, France
1983 Portraits, Alliance Francaise, New York, USA
1984 American Ballet Theater Photos, Dyansen Gallery 57, NYC, USA
1985 Dixieme Anniversaire, Agathe Gaillard Gallery, France
1985 Art Werburg, Gallery Tabula, Tubingen, Germany
1987-1992 Body and Faces II', Services Culturels Francais, Circulating show in the USA for 5 years.
1990-1991 Photo Icons, Meadows Museum, Dallas
1991 Photographes de la Galerie. Centre de la Photographie, Geneve, Switzerland