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Articles

Arte Grande

Tras la espléndida primera exposición de la nueva galería, con aquel testimonio lleno de realismo que patrocinaba la fotografía de Bruno Barbey, Juan Carlos de Lamadrid nos sigue convenciendo expositivamente con otra muestra, esta vez de tema flamenco.

Dos muestras fotográficas en las que se nos ofrecen dos versiones distintas de una realidad artística que provoca los más espectaculares desenlaces plásticos. Dos muy importantes fotógrafos, mucho más de lo que la gente -incluida las que de esto dicen saber- pueda imaginar... » Read More

Idols

Dear Shaded Viewers and Diane,

It was a real joy and honor for me to have the opportunity of this inspiring digital conversation with Mr. Gilles Larrain. His just republished iconic book Idols was being celebrated with a very successful exhibition at Steven Kasher gallery in Chelsea only a few months ago, and through the fascinating medium of his wife Louda, Mr. Larrain told me about New York and the 70s, his charming birds of paradise, the intimate world of painting and his own childhood and how to seductively capture souls on kodachrome films.» Read More

Idols
By Alison Martin

A series of photographs by Gilles Larrain are on display at The Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea. The exhibition titled Gilles Larrain: Idols includes 35 of Larrain’s large-scale photographs that are being exhibited to the public for the first time. Larrain’s photographed musicians, actors, and other figures who had an impact on New York City... » Read More

Idols
Steven Kasher gallery

Steven Kasher Gallery is pleased to present Gilles Larrain: Idols featuring 35 never before exhibited large-scale photographs of New York’s most wildly colorful, often scandalous denizens of style that he shot during the revolutionary early 1970s. Larrain’s now legendary SoHo studio became a haven for the glamorous misfits who were exploring their sexual identity and re-creating the city’s night life. » Read More


Idols

Interview Magazine: Meet Gilles Larrain’s Idols

Fashion

“I moved to New York City because of people like this,” says Ryan McGinley in his introduction to the outrageous personalities depicted by Gilles Larrain in his monograph Idols (PowerHouse), set for release late September in conjunction with an exhibit at Steven Kasher Gallery in New York. Audacious and glamorous, Larrain’s book unfolds as a retrospective of 1970s New York style and attitude..." » Read More


Idols

Vice Magazine: Gilles Larrain's Opening Wasn't a Drag At All

By Harry Cheadle

As you may remember, last year we had Ryan McGinley interview famed photographer Gilles Larrain about his 1973 book, Idols, which Ryan called “one of the best photography books I’ve ever seen.” Well, guess what? Its re-release by Powerhouse Books is being celebrated with an exhibition at Steven Kasher Gallery, in Chelsea, featuring king-sized prints of Gilles’s portraits of drag queens. » Read More


Idols

La Lettre de la Photographie: Gilles Larrain Idols

By Jonas Cuenin

Idols is an ode to eccentricity as had been imagined and than coveted by the world of the eyes that generated a disconcerting creativity in a town where exception is the rule, New York City. » Read More


Idols

Rebe Rebel Anti-style: The 360 Degree View of Gilles Larrain

By Keanan Duffty

Gilles Larrain was born in Dalat, Indochina, in 1938 to a Chilean father, who was a diplomat and painter, and a French-Vietnamese mother, who was a pianist and painter. His father was Hernan Larrain, at that time consul of Chile in Indochina, and Charlotte Mayer-Blanchy, granddaughter of Saïgon’s first mayor Paul Blanchy. » Read More

Idols

Out Magazine

By Max Berlinber

In 1973, photographer Gilles Larrain published his first book, Idols, a lavish account of various members of New York City queer and drag culture whom he gained access to at the legendary nightclub Max's kansas City... » Read More

Idols

Paper Magazine

By Mr. Mickey

Mr. Mickey's look of the month is a gallery of glamourpusses from the visually-lush new book IDOLS by Gilles Larrain (Powerhouse), hich documents the gender-bending scene of 1970s-era New York » Read More

Idols

Numero

By Delphine Roche

From the end of the 1960s onwards, Gilles Larrain realised the importance of the drag queen phenomenon and turned his lens on the New York transcestite scene. His book Idols was originally published in 1973; it quickly became an incontrovertible reference for numerous photographers and is being re-released today with a preface by Ryan McGinley » Read More

Idols
By Amy Kellner

"I never wanted to be a drag queen, because I was a very pretty boy, but I was never a pretty girl. It was more about androgyny. Alexis had all these beautiful costumes in his apartment. I remember that the dog kept trying to eat my turban. I walked around this way all the time. I had a full-time job in a hospital, and it was a real struggle to live this way. People were very threatened by it. And people also copied us all the time. David Bowie used to be my neighbor at the Chelsea Hotel, and he never took his eyes off me. I was like, What’s her problem? He was very observant. I had shaved my eyebrows — that was my look. And suddenly he had no eyebrows."» Read More

Idols
By Amy Kellner

This week’s What They Were Thinking column features a photo from “Idols,” the 1973 cult-classic photo book by Gilles Larrain that chronicled the gender-bending New York arts scene in the early ’70s. Long out of print, “Idols” is being reissued next month by powerHouse Books. The reissue has even more photos than the original, and includes more popular musicians, like Nina Hagen and members of the New York Dolls. Everyone looks great.» Read More

Idols 2011
By Ruth La Ferla

On “The Marc and Myra Show,” on SiriusXM radio, the writer Bob Colacello recalled visiting Studio 54 in the 1970s when Yves Saint Laurent strolled into the room. Halston, on glimpsing his idol, sprang from his chair to embrace him. Taking in the scene, Truman Capote was heard to tell a companion: “You have just witnessed one of the great moments in the history of fashion. That is, if you care about the history of fashion.”» Read More

Belen Maya

Серия ФЛАМЕНКО фотографа Жиля Ларраина (Gilles Larrain)

Жиль Ларраин (Gilles Larrain) – человек поистине интернациональный….Он, кажется, не имеет национальности не только потому, что в нём смешалось так много кровей, но потому, что он принадлежит другому миру – миру искусства фотографии, а для меня фотграфия – это словно другая страна, Зазеркалье….Ну, не всякая, конечно, потому что то, что можно назвать Фотографией вот так, с большой буквы, встречается. по моему мнению, очеь редко. Я по пальцам могу пересчитать фотографов, которых я бы рискнула назвать художниками» Read More

Permanent Collections

Bibliothèque nationale Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, Maison européenne de la photographie Paris, Caisse des dépôts et consignations Paris, Centre de la photographie Genève, Michèle & Michel Auer Hermance, Modern Art Museum Munich, Palais des beaux-arts Bruxelles, American Ballet Theater New York, Guggenheim Museum New York, New York City Ballet New York, Union League Club New York... » Read More

José Manuel Simián

Este fotógrafo de padre chileno es para muchos una leyenda de la fotografía. Su taller de Manhattan fue escenario de sesiones de retrato para Dalí, Miles Davis y Baryshnikov, y hoy es el lugar donde cada mes organiza un “Salón” de arte en vivo, en el cual da rienda suelta a su otra pasión: la guitarra flamenca. Quizás sea la hora de que, tras seis décadas de separación, el artista y Chile se vuelvan a encontrar. » Read More

Written by Emanuel Urzúa

This documentary series follows Gilles as he captures outstanding moments of singing, dancing and guitar playing. His photo sessions awaken the flamenco spirit, or duende, of an art form whose roots, like the olive tree behind dancer Mario Maya, run deep in the South of Spain. “In Search of Duende follows Gilles to different cities and towns in Andalusia, the birthplace of flamenco as he discovers a new generation of artists. » Read More

Por Emanuel Urzúa

Esta serie documental sigue los pasos de Larraín mientras retrata momentos de genialidad en sesiones fotográficas que a la vez son juergas de música, canto, toque y baile, y exponen el espíritu de un arte cuyas raíces –como el olivo frente al cual nos confronta Mario Maya- están profundamente arraigadas en el Sur de España. » Read More

By Frank Pasquine

Finally, I found an artist who would paint a nude model on the back of another nude model. Another check off the wish list for this young fellow. This was just a tease of what Gilles and Louda Larrain had to offer at their 13th Art Salon Party. The Art Salon Party is an exciting exhibition of various arts that takes place on the last Thursday of every month (not including November and December for the holidays.) January’s last Thursday was no exception, as it became the first of the new decade.» Read More

By Nicole Durbin

Art Salon: Where creativity is cause for celebration. That’s not the official tagline of the Salonistas, but it may as well be. As anyone who’s been paying attention already knows, Art Salon is the monthly fête where featured artists Gilles Larrain, Louda, and Thomas Shelford invite us all to observe their artistry – or even take part – while mingling with the new creative class of NYC. Not bad for a Thursday night. » Read More

By Melena Ryzik

IT was Friday night, and the face paint was optional, but few people abstained. Why? Because here was a woman in pasties and a giant pink beehive talking to a guy in a unitard with a balloon for a head, who called himself the Eye of Disorient. There was a woman in a nude body stocking, with artfully applied glitter, go-go dancing on a platform. A daughter of a Factory star was nearby, alongside some art school kids, television writers and other nightlife denizens. And everywhere there were tchotchkes and doodads, glowing in the black light. » Read More

Carlos Pintado

En busca del duende atestigua la magia que el legendario fotógrafo neoyorquino Gilles Larraín ha captado- y sigue captando- con su lente al asomarse entre bastidores para documentar la vida y el arte de los mejores flamencos del mundo.
Esta serie documental sigue los pasos de Larraín mientras retrata momentos de genialidad en sesiones fotográficas que a la vez son juergas de música, canto, toque y baile, y exponen el espíritu de un arte cuyas raíces –como el olivo frente al cual nos confronta Mario Maya- están profundamente arraigadas en el Sur de España. » Read More

By Julienne Gage

Stepping into the basement of photographer Gilles Larrain’s SOHO studio in New York City is a bit like dipping down into a gypsy cave in Spain. Old copper pots hang in the kitchen above a long rustic table that serves as a gathering place for spontaneous parties of wine, cheese, and Larrain’s own flamenco guitar playing. On the other end is an even more intimate space for Larrain—his well-lit photo set. From Miles Davis and John Lennon to Glenn Close and Salvador Dalí, Larrain has captured the essence of hundreds of celebrities in three-decade career, but flamencos are the artists he most loves to photograph. » Read More


S Magazine #10 - Light Show

By J.P.T. Molyneux

Some photography deserves words to go along with it. When the great photographer Gilles Larrain decides to shoot a subject who is as intriguing as the actress and dancer Miho Nicaido, commentary is in order, because it is not every day that two very authentic art icons free of faddishness; free of fraudulence meet, elevate each other’s virtues, and thus elevate the craft of portraiture. For this exclusive shoot, which took place in New York’s SoHo neighborhood in late 2009, S Magazine and its readers are particulary privileged. » Read More


VICE Magazine: The Fashion Issue 2010 - Gilles Larrain

By RYAN MCGINLEY

I can’t remember when I first saw the book Idols by Gilles Larrain. All I know is that ever since I got it, it’s been a huge influence on me. Idols is one of the best photography books I’ve ever seen. It was published in 1973 and it’s a collection of studio portraits of trannies, gender-benders, and just generally awesome-looking people in New York City. It’s an incredible time capsule. There are Warhol people, like Taylor Mead and Holly Woodlawn, and members of the San Francisco–based psychedelic drag-queen performance troupe the Cockettes. There’s a photo of the artist Al Hansen, aka Beck’s grandfather, covered in silvery paint and dressed up like some kind of Roman soldier, and an unrecognizable teenage Harvey Fierstein, looking like a young pretty Jewish lady (well, almost). Most important, these people all had the best style. The greatest fashion always originates with drag queens. The outfit you’re wearing today was probably invented by a drag queen ten years ago. » Read More

Gilles Larrain - On The Jitney: May 2009

Written and Illustrated by Lynn Matsuoka

This is an invitation to what is becoming the Destination SoHo Art Salon Party, a convergence of talented artists, special musical guests, and the great photographer (and philosopher) Gilles Larrain’s compelling Flamenco guitar performances on his vintage Gurian Guitar throughout. Food, wine and the artsy atmosphere of Gilles’ Grand Street Studio combine with encourage excitement and interaction with the artists. Their artwork mostly created on site during the Salon is on display and available for sale at startup-friendly prices. I am there as well, doing a limited number of 5-minute portraits for same. » Read More

Por ELISEO CARDONA

Tres razones rigen la vida de Gilles Larraín: la curiosidad, la pasión y el amor. Son los mismos impulsos que laten en el corazón del flamenco, un mundo que el fotógrafo aprendió a amar hace varias décadas para descubrir otra identidad, y de paso abrazar la certeza de que nadie es ajeno a una cultura que no es la suya cuando la vive en carne propia.» Read More

Toast for Gilles Larraín 70th Birthday, January 17th 2009

By Hayley McCulloch

Gilles Larrain is an Opera, the kind you will willingly sit through, enraptured, absolutely spellbound -even when you really need to get up and pee. This is going to be a long one, and I met some of you at the door, remember? (and I’ve got your names, so don’t even think about it…) » Read More

Zoom Magazine - English Edition 1981

By Jack Schofield

If you know the name of Gilles Larrain, this portfolio of pictures will surprise you. This is Larrain the artist – whose materials are air, smoke, light, water, neon tubes – Larrain the sculptor of the environment. And this is Larrain the photographer – whose subjects were New York transvestites with impossibly painted faces, and young men with firm flesh bulging through their tight leather outfits – Larrain the documentor of the sexual underworld. (See Zoom 16 French edition, or his book, Idols.) » Read More

View Camera - Gilles Larrain: The French Chef of Photography

By Rosalind Smith

“It is time consuming and impractical,” he says, “and if you want to make money you must never do that. You can just press a button and that is it, then press another button and send it quick. I work in my darkroom because I enjoy it and because I want my life to be something I am happy with. I come from an old family where money was never that important and I feel completely out of touch with a world where money is the only thing that counts. I am not a money maker… my world is my pleasure.” » Read More

Sobre Arte y Fotografía Flamenca

By Carlos Lencero

Muchas han sido, a lo largo de los años, ya abundantes, las fotografías que sobre temas y presonajes flamencos me han sido dadas a ver. Simplemente ningunas han causado tanta impresión visual ni tanta conmoción interior en mi como la colección, recien conocida ahora del Sr. Gilles Larraín. » Read More

Zoom Magazine, 1972 – French edition

By Michel Caen

New York vit à l’heure de la féte. Une féte que nos yeux europeens savent mal déchiffrer aujourdʼhui, puisque nous ne verrons souvent que provocation, outrance et ridicule là où s’expriment, avec une déconcertante affirmation ludique, les premiers soubresauts d’une nouvelle liberation : The Gay Lib. Aprés les femmes et le Women’s Lib, les homosexuels (en anglais : gay) ont decidé de remettre en cause, avec leurs propres armes... » Read More

New York Post Daily Magazine

By Nora Ephron

Gilles and Marie Christine Larrain live in a fourth-floor walkup apartment in greenwich Village, a floor-through that is mostly dominated by Larrain’s liquid-filled plastic tube sculpture and his light machines, one of which inflates and deflates itself when plugged in.... » Read More