Gilles Larrain

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: [http://www.gilleslarrain.com www.GillesLarrain.com]

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" (edited by Jim Clyne), 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.

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", Hamburg, 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", [http://www.agathegaillard.com/ 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, Tübingen, Germany
*1987-1992 "Body and Faces II', Services Culturels Francais, Circulating show in the USA for 5 years.
*1990-1991 "Photo Icons", [http://www.meadowsmuseumdallas.org/index_main.htm Meadows Museum] , Dallas
*1991 "Photographes de la Galerie". Centre de la Photographie, Geneve, Switzerland

Quote

"Photography is a way of asking questions and finding some answers."

Related links

* [http://www.gilleslarrain.com gilleslarrain.com]
* [http://www.flamenco-world.com/magazine/fotos/gilles/home.htm The world of flamenco]
* [http://minilien.com/?d0nD0H9faF Some courses he has been teaching in NYC]