London-based Persian artist Maryam Eisler Maryam Eisler solo exhibition ‘If Only These Walls Could Talk’ is currently showing at Alon Zakaim Fine Art, 27 Cork Street. This new body of work from Eisler, was shot at the fabled Hôtel Nord-Pinus in Arles, France. The Exhibition runs from 2-24 November 2022.
The work was photographed at the legendary Grand Hôtel Nord-Pinus in Arles. This mystical location is where writers, bullfighters, poets, performers, artists and photographers have stayed. It is amid the “ghostly presence” of Picasso, Cocteau, Callas, Chaplin, Hemingway, and Van Gogh, that Eisler’s work explores the masculine and feminine tensions that the city has seen and lived over centuries.
Oh, but for the joys of meandering through corridors and spaces once trodden by the greats of art, culture, music, entertainment and literature. If only the walls in these unpretentious spaces could talk!
What would they say of the Nord-Pinus?
Maryam Eisler
Between lockdowns in 2021 Eisler stayed at the hotel. She was particularly drawn to Suite 10. This was the location of Helmut Newton’s iconic 1973 Vogue shoot with Charlotte Rampling. Not in replication or imitation, but rather to explore and to expand on the subject of ‘La Femme’ in the Now.
Eisler continues in her new series to pursue definitions of the various facets of the ‘Sublime Feminine’ – a consistent exploration of the artist into sensuality and the female gaze.
Through her lens and in countless bodies of work, ‘The Sublime Feminine’ has been a constant protagonist in Eisler’s work; from the Catskills to the American West, Carmel to Mexico, Iceland to Capri, and now, Arles.
At the Hôtel Nord-Pinus, Eisler returns to black and white photography to explore her muses, allowing her to distil figures into abstract but emotive shapes, or what she calls “body architecture.” Her protagonists now sit nonchalantly before a feast of shellfish and sea urchins, smoke cigars whilst posing in a magasin de vins, and sprawl unapologetically across fer forge beds.
Four photographs show the matador now being lured away from his arena by the same two women in elegant evening gowns.
We see mythical beauty captured through the prism of historical richness of Le Nord-Pinus in a magical dance between light and shade. At once, the female form is both echoed in the curling ironwork, and contrasted against geometric floor tiles and vertical frames. Sensual yet strong, seductive yet unattainable, these women project an idea of an uncompromising femininity and a vibrant beauty.
Suite 10 at the Hôtel Nord-Pinus was also the place where celebrated bullfighters, such as Luis Miguel Dominguín, greeted their adoring crowds from the balcony railings, and this series also pays reverence to a sport that has captivated generations of artists, poets, and writers, including Picasso, whose lifelong passion for bulls is well-documented in his work.
Of all the works in the series ‘If Only These Walls Could Talk’, three are set in the arena; as the dominant colour, red is symbolic on many levels, as an evocation of passion and danger. The matador stands strong as a masculine force; however, in place of the bull, Eisler’s female muses have returned, defiantly spirited, beautiful, and completely unapologetic about their passion, sensuality, and strength.
The accompanying publication ‘If Only These Walls Could Talk,’ which includes a foreword by Brandei Estes, Sotheby’s Director, Head of Photographs, EMEA, will be available to coincide with the exhibition.
Alon Zakaim Fine Art 27 Cork St, London W1S 3NG Private View (by invitation only): 1 November 2022 2-24 November 2022
