THE NEW YORK YEARS
In 215 atmospheric and intimate photographic portraits, Sahihi reveals luminaries in the arts in their personal New York City lives, capturing special moments of contemplation, thought and conversation outside of their public lives.
In addition to contemporary art icons such as Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons and Frank Stella, Sahihi portrays distinct actors such as Dennis Hopper and Willem Dafoe, acclaimed authors and thinkers such as Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt, and legendary musicians such as John Cage, Solange, Philip Glass, Curtis Mayfield, as well as Rappers from the Wu-Tang Clan.
Sahihi allows us to see the person behind the - often famous - face, and at times to even come as close as a family member. We can experience the presence of some the greatest personalities of New York’s thriving cultural scene of the 1980s and 1990s. The selected photographs refer to his comprehensive New York archive and are on view for the first time. His portraits illuminate cultural attitudes, shaping the collective perception of New York City as an international capital of the arts, which we have all grown to admire as a place that provides the freedom to push creative frontiers – and the frontiers of the arts.
Ashkan Sahihi, born 1963 in Tehran, Iran, lived and worked in New York from 1987 to 2014. As an internationally renowned photographer, he captures the intimacy and sacred silence of a moment through his portraiture. His work has been shown internationally in several solo exhibitions, such as at MoMA PS1, New York; Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York; Voies Off Arles photo festival, Arles; as well as in several group exhibitions such as at MACRO Testaccio, Rome and Akademie der Künste, Berlin. His work has also been featured in publications such as the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and Vogue. Ashkan Sahihi now lives and works in Berlin.
Images: Ashkan Sahihi, Willem Dafoe I (left), Willem Dafoe II (right), NYC, 1998
The complete collection of portraits (in progress)
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