Helmut Newton Fact & Fiction
A major exhibition celebrating the life and work of the legendary German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton (1920-2004) will open in A Coruña, Spain this autumn. Helmut Newton – Fact & Fiction runs from 18 November 2023 – 1 May 2024.
The exhibition is the third presented by the Marta Ortega Pérez (MOP) Foundation and follows successful exhibitions devoted to Peter Lindbergh and Steven Meisel. Helmut Newton – Fact & Fiction is created in close collaboration with the Helmut Newton Foundation and will be curated by Philippe Garner, Matthias Harder, and Tim Jefferies.
During the course of a career spanning six decades, Helmut Newton came to be regarded as one of the world’s leading photographers. A prolific image maker and genuine visionary, he continues to prove a major influence on modern photography and visual art today.
The exhibition will tell the story of the man behind the work with a series of videos showing Newton at work and in conversation; personal images providing insights into his childhood, career and partnership with his wife June; and further documents, posters, cameras and equipment, props, intriguing artefacts, and memorabilia.
The curation of fashion and style images epitomises Newton’s bold and unapologetic visual language, including his iconic ‘Big Nudes’ and memorable portraits of a range of exceptional personalities championing empowerment and self-expression – among them Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Margaret Thatcher, Charlotte Rampling, Elsa Perretti, Daryl Hannah, Jerry Hall, Naomi Campbell, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.
As a counterpoint to his famous fashion and style imagery, Newton’s examples of less well known ‘landscapes’ will be showcased in the exhibition – the highly atmospheric images of places that resonated for him, from Paris to Los Angeles, Monte Carlo to Berlin, Vienna to Las Vegas, which also reflect the very special atmosphere of the exhibition’s location in A Coruña.
Marta Ortega said: “Helmut Newton is one of that celestial band of photographers whose images are instantly recognisable as their own. Newton’s own great revolutionary act was to utterly change the ways in which women were portrayed in the pages of glossy magazines. Here were women who enjoyed style and fashion, who enjoyed the power and splendour of their bodies, women who were elegantly seductive and untouchable. His photographs were not only of his time but far ahead of his time – he spectacularly set the scene for those photographers who followed him.
To be able to work with photographers whose picture making I have long admired is a great privilege. I do so not simply with the ambition to enrich the cultural life of A Coruña, but also in the hope that future generations of image makers will find their own inspiration in the work of these remarkable photographers.”
The Marta Ortega Pérez (MOP) Foundation is defined by three guiding passions: fashion, photography and A Coruña. The Foundation’s inaugural exhibition Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories (2021) attracted an audience of over 100,000. Its second exhibition Steven Meisel 1993 A Year in Photographs built on that success, attracting more than 130,000 visitors.
Funds raised from its exhibition programme have enabled the Foundation to create an artist-led education programme designed to promote a deep understanding of each master photographer’s work. The 2022/2023 programme involved 9,000 students and 300 teachers from 93 education centres across Galicia.
Exhibition details:
Exhibition title: Helmut Newton – Fact & Fiction Dates: 18 November 2023 – 1 May 2024
Press Preview: 17 November 2023
