If you have been following Terry Richardson's Tumblr blog for any period of time, you have probably wondered why he posts so many random shots of street signs, religious artifacts, and other side-of-the-road tchotchkes. The simple answer is that it's his blog and he can post what he wants to, but it also appears that Richardson has been building toward something. It was announced recently that the photographer will open a solo exhibition at Galerie Perrotin in Paris on March 7, his first with the gallery since 1999.
Titled "The Sacred and the Profane," the gallery show brings together opposing ideas that go hand in hand for Richardson, what he calls a "complicated relationship between desires and fears, beauty and vulgarity, the beauty of nature and also its ugliness, the hope that religion can offer and also the shame." According to Artnews, the artist wrote a statement for the show's press release in which he mentions America's "fear of sexuality" and how it led to events like the Salem Witch Trials, Prohibition, and the Westboro Baptist Church.
"Even today, hardline religious groups use a similar strategy to their Puritan ancestors of exploiting impropriety to assert and fortify their own doctrines," Richardson wrote. "For example, placing billboards near the sites of transgression- you can buy your pornography or pay for your lap dance, but not without the admonishment of a larger than life, silent Jesus watching over you."
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Galerie Perrotin press representative Constance Gounod told Artnews that "occasionally you notice someone in the pictures, naked," but the landscapes taken during his roadtrips occupy more of the gallery space. The gallery made it clear that they are not representing Richardson, as many institutions and brands have distanced themselves from the artist following the many sexual assault allegations against him, but Gounod also stated that "we’ve been supporting Terry’s work for a long time, so this is really about his work and not his personal life."
[via Artnews]
