By Camille Clech

Camille Clech and Andres Serrano

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Last month, Aperture’s Work Scholars had the profound pleasure of visiting Andres Serrano‘s studio. The space boasts an eclectic atmosphere; a sixteenth-century Madonna sculpture, for example, faces one of Serrano’s cinematic portraits of a Ku Klux Klan member.

We conversed with the artist on a variety of subjects, covering everything from his childhood in Williamsburg to the controversy surrounding his famous Piss Christ. Serrano collects Renaissance art and explained the importance these pieces have in his working environment, and how they affect his work. Preferring to be called an artist rather than a photographer, he also shared his opinions on current culture, the importance of the image, and the immediate nature of modern news. We were captivated by the story of his artistic rise, and his description of how the art world has changed since the beginning of his career. In closing, he answered questions about his influences, his artistic process, and the current state of photography.

After our group visit, I had the opportunity to take part in a photo shoot with Andres Serrano. Currently working on painterly reinterpretations of iconic religious scenes – such as Virgin with Child, or the Last Supper – he invited me to pose for his take on the Madonna. Supported by his wife and his assistant, he set up the background and lighting, and then took some polaroid tests to find the perfect angle and luminosity. Cloaked in the Madonna’s iconic blue veil, I posed for several shots.

I am looking forward to see which image Mr. Serrano will select during his developing and editing processes. It was an incredible experience, and I am so grateful to the Work Scholar Program for giving us all this one-of-a-kind opportunity!

Camille Clech is Aperture’s Website and Video Production Work Scholar. She is a student at the New York Institute of Technology-Old Westbury, and can’t believe she posed for an Andres Serrano portrait!

To learn more about Aperture’s Work Scholar program, click here.

Opening this weekend at the Austin Museum of Art, A Couple Ways of Doing Something features Chuck Close’s intimate portraits of leading contemporary artists, paired with Bob Holman’s witty and beautifully typeset poems. The daguerreotypes offer an extremely revealing study of the subjects, extending the hyperrealist tradition of portraiture for which Close is renowned. In keeping with the exhibition title, Chuck Close has included examples of his other works taken from each daguerreotype in a variety of media, including photogravures, digital pigment prints, and large-scale tapestries. In an additional departure for Close, many of the portraits were produced in tandem with praise poems by Bob Holman, founder of the Bowery Poetry Club.  Together, they form composite portraits of their subjects—an influential and highly creative circle of friends and colleagues—from Andres Serrano to Cindy Sherman. An opening reception will be held Friday, August 21 from 6:00 to 9:00, open only to museum members. The museum will screen a film about the artist and his peers in early September as well as a Slide Lecture by Art Historian Richard Shiff early November.

Chuck Close: A Couple of Ways of Doing Something
Saturday, August 22—Sunday, November 8, 2009
Austin Museum of Art
823 Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas
(512) 495-9224

Film: Portrait of Close’s Creative Circle
Thursday, September 10, 2009  7:00 pm
In her film Chuck Close (2007), director Marion Cajori examines the appeal of the human face by interviewing the artist and his circle of creative friends, including Philip Glass, Robert Rauschenberg, and Kiki Smith. Film introduction by Austin photographer George Krause.

Slide Lecture: Realism of Low Resolution
Thursday, November 5, 2009  7:00 pm
Art Historian Richard Shiff will put the portraits of Chuck Close in context with the slide lecture Realism of Low Resolution: Chuck Close (and Others).

Click here to purchase your copy of A Couple of Ways of Doing Something, published by Aperture.