Collier Schorr

Collier Schorr (born 1963 in New York) is an American artist and fashion photographer best known for adolescent portraits that blend photographic realism with elements of fiction and youthful fantasy.[1]

Schorr grew up in Queens, New York[2] and studied journalism at the School of Visual Arts. In the 1980s and 1990s she also worked actively as an art critic.[1] Her photography work was featured in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and the 2003 International Center for Photography Triennial. In 2008 she received a Berlin Prize by the American Academy in Berlin. Collier Schorr is represented by Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London and 303 Gallery, New York. She currently resides in Brooklyn and spends her summers with family in Schwäbisch Gmünd, in Southern Germany.[3]

Her work explores a multitude of themes, including history, nationality, and war, with an emphasis on identity and gender.[4] Her influences include Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, and Laurie Simmons, along with German and Jewish social history, World War II, wrestling,[5] painter Andrew Wyeth, and German photographer August Sander.

Early work

From the beginning of her photography career in 1986 to about 2014, Schorr's work was primarily seen in a number of solo exhibitions, along with published books to aid in further exploration of various overarching themes.

By incorporating documentary, fantasy, and an occasional interweaving of different media, Schorr dissected the concepts behind identity politics in an age of feminism. She was heavily influenced by the androgyny of 1980s fashion, and utilized the momentum it generated to create art that drew upon elements of fashion photography while also interrogating other cultural boundaries. Though her recent work is featured in fashion magazines, her earlier photographs would easily fit there as well.

There I Was, a gallery show at the 303 Gallery in New York and book released in 2009, is a perfect example of Schorr's abilities to push the limits of medium and perspective. Drawing on her experience with the drag car racer Charlie Snyder and his surprising death in Vietnam, Schorr questions everything regarding reportage, memory, and the inability to recreate the past. She combines drawings, photos, and cut-up magazines to create a collage of information that conveys her thoughts about the disconnect between the photograph, the viewer, and the subject.[6]

Ultimately, Schorr's early work represents her exploration of feminism, identity, sexuality, and gender during a period wherein these concepts were being questioned on a larger cultural scale. Through her personal touches and combination of media, Schorr exalts the underrepresented to find her own place in society.

Recent work

Although Schorr continues her exploration of adolescent androgyny, her photographic platform fully transitioned to fashion magazines by 2014. Her earliest fashion photography was featured in such publications as Purple Magazine and i-D, and focused on clothing rather than on artistic photography.[7] Her later photography would combine the two by utilizing popular culture icons. She recently photographed newly famous adolescent actors Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown for Dazed magazine, highlighting their physical similarities.[8][9] Other pop culture icons Schorr has worked with include Timothée Chalamet, Janelle Monáe, and Jodie Foster, and further explores androgyny and removes the subject from stereotypical depictions of gender.

Schorr's work expresses a viewpoint that is neither masculine nor heterosexual. Much of her work comes from a place of altering perception, either looking deeper into what is considered normal or altering the usual context of an idea in order to create commentary on the subject.[4]

In 2019, Collier Schorr received the Royal Photographic Society Award for Editorial, Advertising and Fashion Photography, with an Honorary Fellowship of the Society.

Notable works

Jens F.

First exhibited at the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and then featured at the 303 Gallery in New York in 2003, Jens F. features a myriad of photographs, sketches, and notes regarding the image of a young German boy. Using Andrew Wyeth's depictions of the model Helga from the late 20th century as a template, Schorr depicts male Jens as an androgynous and emotional figure. The obvious juxtaposition of genders and the boy's acknowledging gaze conveys the idea that modern sexuality is being challenged with confidence.

Forests and Fields

After living in the small town of Schwabisch Gmund, Germany for 12 years, Schorr has created Forests and Fields in order to explore the composition of the environment, its inhabitants, and herself. The collection was first presented as a complete exhibition at the 303 Gallery in 2001, focusing on images that varied from young boys dressed in Nazi uniforms to deliberately designed still-lifes of nature. In a nod toward August Sander's 1930s work, Schorr later expanded the project into multiple books, each focusing on a different aspect of her overall idea.[10]

Volume 1: Neighbors

Neighbors was published in 2006 as the first volume of Forests and Fields, and mainly focuses on ambiguous portraits. Schorr manipulates themes of nationality, identity, and history to create a scrapbook-like composition of images that toes the line between documentary and fantasy.[11] An exhibition titled Badischer Kunstverein took place in 2007 to accompany this volume.[12]

Volume 2: Blumen

Moving away from portraits, Blumen focuses on the German landscape. By manipulating small aspects about everyday natural objects, Schorr comments further on the relationships between the German town and the citizens themselves, all while adding in overtones of fantasy.[13]

Wrestlers

In 2002, Schorr visited Blairstown, New Jersey and West Point, New York to photograph their wrestling teams in action. Her goal in capturing these images of vulnerability, struggle, and pain was to reveal the undiscovered duality of wrestling. While being an undeniably masculine sport, it possesses romantic and feminine elements that push it into the realm of androgyny and gender fluidity.[5] Schorr hopes to compile the photos into an art book titled Wrestlers Love America in the future.[14]

8 Women

8 Women was exhibited at the 303 Gallery in 2014, consisting of 14 works of eight women accumulated over the past twenty years.[14] With a combination of head shots, full body nudes, action poses, and a drawing, Schorr conveys a sense of feminine power that neither objectifies the subjects nor dates the photos. By consistently incorporating elements of fashion photography, Schorr is able to comment on how representation and hyper-sexualization functions in both fashion and feminist culture today.[15]

Publications
  • Jens f. ,[16] Göttingen : Steidl MACK ;London Thames & Hudson, 2005.ISBN 3865211569. A compilation of photographs of a young boy developing into a man through poses similar to those of Andrew Wyeth's painted Helga.[17]
  • Neighbors = Nachbarn[18], Collier Schorr, Publisher: Göttingen : Steidl Mack, 2006. ISBN 3865213030. A historical and fictional story told through photographs about a small town in Germany where apparitions reside. She pieces together a tale of her own family tree through “memory, nationalism, war, emigration, and family”.[19]
  • Male : From the collection of Vince Aletti, Schorr, New York : PPP editions, 2008. ISBN 0971548064. Photography critic/curator Vince Aletti's amassed collection of work of male bodies with an essay from Schorr, describing how these pieces have influenced her own work and the acceptance of gay men into art history.[20]
  • There I was[21], Schorr, Göttingen : Steidl, 2008. ISBN 3865216161. Using her father's and Charlie Astoria Chas Snyder's photos, her own sketches, and vintage car ads, Collier weaves together a story of the young drag racer's death in Vietnam and the complexity of a photograph's perspective.[22]
  • Blumen,[23] Schorr, Göttingen : Steidl MACK, 2010 ISBN 3865216870. A second addition to her previous book about the small town in Germany, Neighbors. This focuses less on figures and more on the natural landscape of the village that Schorr has inhabited for the past 13 years.[24]
  • 8 Women[25] , Schorr, United Kingdom : MACK, 2014. ISBN 190794642X. A collection of her work from the mid-nineties to 2014, focusing on the female's perspective of women “who want to be looked at”, like models, musicians, and artists.[26]
  • Collier Schorr: I Blame Jordan[27], Long Island City, NY : MoMA PS1, 2015 . ISBN 0989985954. A compilation of photographs taken of model Jordan Barrett for the MoMA PS1.[28]

Solo exhibitions

2019

  • Stonewall at 50, Alice Austen House, Staten Island, NY, USA

2018

  • In Front of the Camera, Modern Art, London

2014

  • 8 1/2 Women, Karma, New York, NY, USA
  • 8 Women, 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2011

  • Ars Cameralis, Katowice, Poland
  • German Faces, CoCA Kronika, Bytom, Upper Silesia, Poland

2010

  • Journals & Notebooks, 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
  • German Faces, Berardo Collection (as part of Photo España), Lisbon, Portugal
  • German Faces, Modern Art, London

2009

  • Hier hielt die Welt den Atem an, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, Germany

2008

  • Blumen, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy
  • There I Was, Le Consortium, Dijon, France
  • Jens F, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO, USA

2007

  • There I Was, 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
  • Forests & Fields, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany

2006

  • Other Women, Modern Art, London

2005

  • Jens F, Roth, New York, NY, USA

2004

  • Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway
  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
  • Modern Art, London

2002

  • Consorcio Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

2001

  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2000

  • Emily Tsingou Gallery, London

1999

  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
  • Georg Kargl Gallery, Vienna, Austria
  • Neue Soldaten, Partobject Gallery, Carrboro, NC, USA

1998

  • Archipelago: New Rooms, Stockholm Kultur 98, Stockholm, Sweden

1997

  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
  • Galerie Drantmann, Brussels, Belgium

1995

  • Galerie Drantmann, Brussels, Belgium

1994

  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA

1993

  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA

1991

  • 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA

1990

  • Standard Graphik, Cologne, Germany
  • The Chase, 303 Gallery, New York, NY, USA

1988

  • Cable Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Selected Collections

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Burger Collection, Hong Kong, China

Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH, USA

Dannheiser Foundation, New York, NY, USA

Environmental Foundation Trust, New York, NY, USA

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy

Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA

The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA

Neuberger Berman, New York, NY, USA

North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, USA

Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL, USA

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, USA

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA

References
  1. "Collier Schorr - Conversation taken from TTA9 - SS 2015 – THE TRAVEL ALMANAC". 2015-12-22. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  2. "Collier Schorr". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  3. "COLLIER SCHORR in conversation with THOMAS DEMAND | 032c Workshop". 032c Workshop. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  4. Ribbat, Christoph (2001). "Queer and Straight Photography". Amerikastudien / American Studies. 46 (1): 27–39. JSTOR 41157626.
  5. ""Wrestlers Love America" — Art21". Art21. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  6. "Collier Schorr - PUBLICATIONS - 303 Gallery". www.303gallery.com. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  7. "#WHM Collier Schorr". Musée Magazine. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  8. Dazed. "Finn Wolfhard – Winter 2016". Dazed. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  9. Dazed (2016-11-22). "Millie Bobby Brown on chats with Winona and channelling ET". Dazed. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  10. "Gil Blank and Collier Schorr in Conversation". www.gilblank.com. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  11. www.bibliopolis.com. "Collier Schorr: Forest and Fields, Volume 1: Neighbors/Nachbarn SIGNED by Collier SCHORR on Vincent Borrelli, Bookseller". Vincent Borrelli, Bookseller. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  12. "Collier Schorr - PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS - 303 Gallery". www.303gallery.com. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  13. Blumen by Collier Schorr.
  14. Meter, William Van (2014-03-12). "When Fashion Meets Art". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  15. "Collier Schorr, 8 Women @303 - Collector Daily". Collector Daily. 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  16. Schorr, Collier; Wyeth, Andrew (2005). Jens F. Göttingen; [London: SteidlMACK ; [Thames & Hudson, distributor. ISBN 9783865211569. OCLC 65756380.
  17. "Jens F." Mack. SteidlMack. November 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  18. Schorr, Collier (2006). Neighbors = Nachbarn. Göttingen: Steidl/Mack. ISBN 9783865213037. OCLC 76910306.
  19. "Neighbors". Google Books. Steidl/Mack. 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  20. Male. Google Books. PPP editions. 2008. ISBN 9780971548060. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  21. Schorr, Collier (2008). There I was. Göttingen: Steidl. ISBN 9783865216168. OCLC 254598982.
  22. There I Was. Google Books. Innovative Logistics Llc. 2008. ISBN 9783865216168. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  23. Schorr, Collier (2010). Collier Schorr. Göttingen: SteidlMack. ISBN 9783865216878. OCLC 959189031.
  24. "Blumen". Mack. SteidlMack. January 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  25. Schorr, Collier (2014). 8 women. ISBN 9781907946424. OCLC 880349571.
  26. "8 Women". Mack. SteidlMack. April 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  27. Schorr, Collier; Miller, Jocelyn; Eleey, Peter; Crimp, Douglas; Lax, Thomas J; Locks, Mia; Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.); P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center (2015). I blame Jordan. Long Island City, NY: MoMA PS1. ISBN 9780989985956. OCLC 933568128.
  28. Collier Schorr: I Blame Jordan. Google Books. P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center. 2016. ISBN 9780989985956. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
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