For Immediate Release January 9, 2020

Artist and Musician Andy Summers, Guitarist of The Police, in Solo Exhibit at the Leica Store New York Soho

January 9, 2020, New York, NY—The Leica Store New York Soho is pleased to announce The Bones of Chuang Tzu, an exhibition of black and white photography by photographer, writer, and musician Andy Summers, best known as the guitarist of the legendary rock band The Police. The exhibition, a photographic interpretation of China, based on his travels through different parts of the country, represents Summers’ visual response to elements of Chinese culture that are rapidly disappearing. A book composed of the photos is forthcoming from Steidl Books.

Summers rose to fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the guitarist of the legendary multi- million-selling rock band The Police, followed by a prolific solo career that continues to this day. The band was the recipient of several Grammys and awards too numerous to mention. He first began photographing in the late 1970's, documenting his travels and life on the road with the Police, and has continued to pursue the medium ever since. His photographs are the subject of four monographs, including the recent A Certain Strangeness (University of Texas Press and Editions Hazan, 2019), a career-spanning collection of photographs, accompanied by essays from Summers and prominent French photographer and critic Gilles Mora. His work has been exhibited at elite galleries and museums around the world, including showings in Paris, Paddington, Tokyo, Montréal, New York City, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

In The Bones of Chuang Tu Summers uses the backdrop of the country to find the unique lines, shapes and images that represent the vibrancy and fragility of Chinese culture. For example, through his photos of the traditional Naxi orchestra in western China, he felt like he knew all the old musicians, but returning a year later he was dismayed to see many had passed on. “I found myself no longer shooting everything that confronted me,” says Summers, “but rather slicing out pieces of my environment that would express something other: photographs as haiku. From Shanghai to Tibet, The Bones of Chuang Tzu reflects what happened.”

On View January 18 through February 28, 2020 Open 7 days a week from 11am to 6pm.

Leica Store NY SoHo I 460 West Broadway I New York City, 10012 I 212-475-7799