Marilyn Monroe visits Art Central

My Art Central neighbour, Axis Contemporary Art, is hosting an excellent exhibition of Douglas Kirkland's photoshoot of the iconic Marilyn Monroe. I had the pleasure of designing the gallery's advertising for the show – it is not often that I get to use such glamourous photography! The poster is on view in the Art Central window and the display window across from the Glenbow Museum.

"Beverly Hills, California on a November evening in 1961 a young photographer from Look Magazine waited for the subject of his assignment to arrive in a small garden apartment. His subject, the most famous movie star of the day, the goddess, Marilyn Monroe. 47 years later the photographs taken by Douglas Kirkland that evening are among the most intimate and engaging portraits of one of the worlds most photographed women. AXIS Contemporary Art is happy to be the first Canadian gallery to host this extraordinary exhibition.
Born in Fort Erie, Ontario, Douglas Kirkland’s career as an award-wining photographer spans five decades and six continents. His subjects have ranged from glamorous stars like Lauren Bacall and Barbra Streisand, rock stars such as Mick Jagger and Sting, to fashion icons Coco Chanel and Pierre Cardin. Through working at Look magazine in the 1960s and Life magazine in the 1970s he began his career photographing the most famous actors and actresses on and off set.

Douglas Kirkland was an apprentice to Irving Penn and started his career at Look and Life magazine in the 1960s and 1970s during the golden age of photojournalism. He has worked on the set of over 100 motion pictures including 2001: Space Odyssey, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Moulin Rouge!, Out of Africa, Titanic and Australia and his iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie and John Travolta (in the dance sequence from Saturday Night Fever), among others, are known all over the world."