Anton Corbijn - R.E.M., Athens GA 12.12.1990 - Archival Pigment Print - Framed 142 x 142 cm - Edition of 5. Courtesy WILLAS contemporary.
ANTON CORBIJN x MAZE
MAZE Photography St Moritz – Hotel Reina Victoria, Theatersaal, Via Rosatsch 18
Opening hours: 21 & 22 Feb, 3-8 pm / 23 Feb, 2-6 pm
For MAZE Photography St. Moritz, WILLAS contemporary is excited to present newly unearthed photographs by legendary Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn. The exhibition LICHT, includes a selection of conceptual works, most of which were created in the 1990s, showcasing Corbijn’s unique approach to experimental photography.
Each photograph was crafted with a single light source—a flashlight—enhanced in some images with color filters which create blurred contours and striking light effects. This technique not only brings the Artists he captures into the light but also gives them a sense of movement. Corbijn, much like a painter with a brush, uses the flashlight to gradually reveal his subjects as they emerge from the darkness.
The rhythmic sweep of the flashlight echoes the electronic beats and synth sounds of music icons like Eurythmics, Neneh Cherry, Sinéad O'Connor and Depeche Mode. Corbijn’s process brings a raw, cinematic quality to his portraits, blurring lines and layering textures to capture the essence of his subjects.
"I wanted to reduce everything to the essentials – just the subject and the simplest form of light. The flashlight allowed me to focus on the emotions in the shadows and isolate the person or object from everything else. This creates a sense of intimacy, but also enhances the mystery."
– Anton Corbijn
ABOUT MAZE
From February 20 to 23 in St. Moritz, MAZE offers a focus on photography enriched by a thematic winter sculpture exhibition.
What grander landscape than the mineral walls of the Bernina to host a Salon dedicated to photography? MAZE will bring together specialist dealers in the field. Thanks to its prestigious location and highly cultural history, the Graubünden village has attracted the branches of several Swiss and international galleries, as well as the Engadin Art Talks. The Museum Susch has also attracted interest from across the region.
The selection of sculptures displayed in the winter environment alongside The ICE, the magical classic car concours d'élégance that takes place on the resort's frozen lake, will focus on the theme of the automobile.
As WILLAS contemporary brings a selection of Corbijn's classic portraiture across film, art, music and fashion to Sotheby’s in Stockholm in a selling exhibition on view between 30 September 2022 – 9 October, we sat down the man himself for an overview of his long, illustrious career.
Article by Arsalan Mohammad from Sotheby’s
The Human Angle
ANTON CORBIJN - BIO
(b: Strijen, 1955)
A polymath in photography, music videos, feature films, graphic design, and commercials, Dutchman Anton Corbijn is perhaps best known for immortalizing some of the greatest artists of our time. His iconic portraits of musicians, directors, and artists like Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Tom Waits, U2, the Rolling Stones, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Gerhard Richter, Ai Weiwei, Marlene Dumas, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington amongst others, are praised for the way they capture the soul and charisma of his subjects.
Effortlessly moving from photography into music videos in the early 80’s Corbijn has since made over 80 promos for people like U2, Johnny Cash, Arcade Fire, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Metallica, Nick Cave, Coldplay and The Killers. He is the Artistic Director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode. For U2 he has done the principal promotion and sleeve photography for four decades.
In 2006 Anton Corbijn started working on his first feature film “CONTROL” about the life, and death, of Ian Curtis, Joy Division’s lead singer. The film won many awards worldwide, including 5 BIFA’s & the Camera d’Or Special Mention at Cannes Film Festival 2007. Corbijn has since made “THE AMERICAN” starring George Clooney (2010), “A MOST WANTED MAN”, based on the novel by John Le Carré featuring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman (2014) and “LIFE”, about James Dean and photographer Dennis Stock, which stars Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan in 2015.
Lately, Anton released his first feature documentary ’SQUARING THE CIRCLE’ about the iconic album art design studio Hipgnosis, and is planning to direct his fifth feature film titled “SWITZERLAND” in 2025, starring e.g. Dame Helen Mirren.
Anton’s work has been exhibited at renowned museums all over the world. 2025 marks his 70th birth year, which will be celebrated with an exhibition in Stockholm as well as Vienna.
IG: @antoncorbijn4real
Anton Corbijn # 5 at Sotheby’s in Stockholm - installation shots by Jean-Baptiste Beranger
BONUS TRACK
SQUARING THE CIRCLE
Celebrated photographer, creative director and filmmaker Anton Corbijn’s first feature documentary SQUARING THE CIRCLE (the story of hipgnosis) tells the story of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell, the creative geniuses behind the iconic album art design studio, Hipgnosis, responsible for some of the most recognizable album covers of all time. They formed Hipgnosis in Cambridge during the ferment of the sixties and became rock royalty during the boom time of the seventies. They conjured into existence sights that no one had previously thought possible, produced visuals which popularized music that had previously been considered fringe, and were at the white-hot center of the maddest, funniest and most creative era in the history of popular music.
During this period, record companies didn’t dictate to acts like Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney what their LP covers should look like - Storm and Po did. They made money; they lost money. They did great things; they did silly things. They fell out bitterly; they made up. They never played a note, but they changed music. The film features brand new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour & Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Noel Gallagher, and many more.