I'd never heard of Tim Walker, a British fashion photographer and aesthetic orchestrator (my description), before Thom and I stumbled into "Wonderful Things," an exhibition of his extraordinarily creative work at the Getty Center. Here he is with one of Madonna's blue sheep.
Thom walked the red carpet before the show but we practically had the hushed gallery to ourselves.
Walker at first reminded me of David LaChappelle with his heavily stylized celebrity portraits.
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| "Two Athenian Women in Distress" by Aubrey Beardsley (1896) |
The photos in "Pen and Ink" weren't really my cup of tea, but the black and white line back to Beardsley by way of couturier Alexander McQueen is obvious if relatively sedate. But things were about to get more fantastic and colorful.
"Tobias and Sara on their Wedding Night" (stained glass, ca 1520, Germany) inspired "Illuminations."
"Fig Leaf for David" inspired "The Land of the Living Men." Rumor has it that the V&A commissioned it to conceal the privates of Michelangelo's most famous statue when Her Majesty was in the room.
The Bayeux Tapestry inspired "Soldiers of Tomorrow."
An English embroidered casket (ca 1675) inspired "Box of Delights."
Don't look too closely at the unicorn's horn.
Two water colors painted during the Mughal Empire and a chess set with Indian animal pieces inspired "Cloud 9."
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| Krishna and Indra |
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| Shiva and Andhaka |
It felt like inhabiting a world made of cotton candy.
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| "A Faun and His Family with a Slain Lion" by Lucas Cranach the Elder (ca 1526) |
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| "The Annunciation" by Dieric Bouts (ca 1450-55) |
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