FADE TO GREY FEB 4 Ð MARCH 2 2014 PHOTOS BY ROBYN BEECHE

In the 1980’s, Australian born photographer Robyn Beeche captured the energetic gender-bending era of identity exploration in . She created many iconic images - from ’s Fade to Grey album cover, to the “puritan” image which inspired ’s Ashes to Ashes film clip. Robyn was celebrated for her ground-breaking, pre-Photoshop photographs of painted bodies through collaborations with counter- culture personalities Zandra Rhodes, Vivienne Westwood, Leigh Bowery and Divine.

Revisiting her substantial collection from the dizzying heights of her success in London after 15 years Beeche said “I can see parallels in each of the different phases of my work. Seeing these photos is like greeting old friends again. They appear to have stood the test of time, but more importantly, they have held fascination for the young students today.”

Anne O’Hehir, curator at the National Gallery of Australia, thinks that, “much of Beeche’s work of the 1970s and 1980s sits in its own place between fashion photography and art photography. For me there’s an interesting tension in her work between the image as decoration and the image as portraiture Ð particularly in the images of famous figures Ð Leigh Bowery, Sir Roy Strong, Andrew Logan.”

Beeche’s inspiring life story has been told by Lesley Branagan in a revealing documentary film ‘A Life Exposed Ð Robyn Beeche: a photographers transformation’, which was broadcast on ABC TV June 2013. The film reveals how Beeche, at the center of London’s high fashion world, finds that fame and success are no longer enough and traces her intrepid move to India to rediscover herself. This film will be shown during the exhibition, while prints and copies of her book 'Visage to Vraj' by Stephen Crafti will be available for sale.

Directors note

We are always amazed by Australian photographers impact on popular culture overseas and Robyn is no exception. Her images from ‘decadent’ 80’s were known the world over, her work was surprising then, and remains so now. The National Gallery, Canberra, have previously acquired 55 of her works Ð she is an important artist.

Black Eye are very proud to be representing Robyns’ art work in Australia. For the first time her work will be reproduced on a larger scale (and in small editions), it’s a unique opportunity.

blackeyegallery.com.au

3/138 Darlinghurst rd, Darlinghurst 2010 ph 8084 7541 ah 0411 874 673 WE ARE OPEN TUES Ð SUN 10AM - 6PM

FADE TO GREY PRICE LIST

1.SONIA ll 2.VIVIENNE 3. 4.ROCOCO 5.SONIA l

6.RATIONAL THEATRE 7.TAMARA 1 8.SCARLETT 9.CARICATOURIST 10.FOUR FACE l

11.KNOTS 12.ANAND 13.TAMARA ll 14.LEIGH BOWERY

15. DALI 16.DIVINE 17. KICK BACK

ALL WORK AVAILABLE IN TWO SIZES

LARGE 100 X100 (IMAGE AREA) EDITION OF 9 $ 3850 FRAMED $ 3300 UNFRAMED.

SMALL 56 X 56 (IMAGE AREA) EDITION OF 25 $ 1450 FRAMED $ 1250 UNFRAMED

NOTE - ALL PRICES WILL INCREASE POST EXHIBITION

PUBLICATION ‘VISAGE TO VRAJ’ SIGNED $60

‘A LIFE EXPOSED’ DVD $25