Aperture Gallery was abuzz Wednesday evening, hosting the much-anticipated New York City launch of Delpire & Co., the citywide, multi-venue retrospective of the life and work of legendary editor, curator and publisher, Robert Delpire. Following presentations in Arles and Paris, Delpire & Co. arrives to New York City with representation at six venues throughout Manhattan.

Aperture’s Wednesday opening was the first of the week (followed by Thursday night openings at the French Embassy, and Gallery at Hermes), welcoming a strong roster of photography legends and pillars of the photographic community. Sarah Moon, Mary Ellen Mark, and Josef Koudelka were in attendance, standing alongside their own seminal works on view, as well as celebrated photographers Bruce Davidson and Susan Meiselas. Multiple films by filmmaker/photographer Sarah Moon were on screen, including 1970’s TV spots directed by Moon for Cacharel (7 min), as well as “Le Montreur d’images (The Go-Between)” (2009), her feature length documentary on husband Robert Delpire.

Peter Barberie, Curator of Photographs for the Philadelphia Art Museum was in attendance Wednesday evening, as well as Jeff Hirsch of FotoCare, and Wendy Byrne, former designer for Aperture Foundation. Special thanks to exhibition producer Mike Derez, and Project Coordinator Agnès Gagnès of Idéodis.

Delpire & Co. runs through June at venues throughout the city. Like us on Facebook to view a full album of photos from the opening.

›› Click here for details on all the exhibitions and events.
›› Join the conversation on Instagram and Twitter using #Delpire
›› The New Yorker presents a stunning and concise slideshow summary of books and photographs from among the displays at Aperture, Hermès, Pace/MacGill, and Howard Greenberg.

Delpire season is upon us.

Tonight Aperture Gallery launches the New York City run of Delpire & Co., opening their W27th street space to the public, showcasing a rich, multimedia exhibition celebrating the revered curator, editor, publisher, and overall champion of photography, Robert Delpire.
In the next several weeks, a comprehensive retrospective of Delpire’s career will be exhibited across four venues in New York City: Aperture Gallery, The Gallery at Hermès, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and La Maison Française. Concurrent with Delpire & Co., Pace/MacGill and Howard Greenberg will have exhibitions on view in celebration of Robert Delpire’s life and work.

Here’s what you can expect to see throughout New York City:

Aperture Gallery

On view: May 9 through July 19

Highlights: Classical and seminal publications by now-iconic photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, Robert Frank (see: “The Americans”), Josef Koudelka, and Sarah Moon. Delpire’s work with magazines will also be featured, including the very first issue of Neuf (founded by Robert Delpire at the ripe age of 23), and Nouvel Observateur Spécial Photo, as well as advertising projects for diverse clients from Cacharel, Citroën, L’Oréal, and the French Ministry of Culture.

Cultural Services of the French Embassy

On view: May 11 through June 6

Highlights: The embassy will be exhibiting the original French editions of beloved illustrator Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and Crocodile Tears.

The Gallery at Hermès/Fondation d’entreprise Hermès

On view: May 11 through July 19

Highlights: Robert Delpire’s famed Photo Poche series is on view, as well as prints from contemporary photographers such as Harry Gruyaert, Jehsong Baak, Michel Vanden Eeckhout, Michael Ackerman, Francesco Zizola, Raymond Depardon, Robert Doisneau, Paolo Pellegrin, Marc Riboud.

La Maison Française of New York University

On view: May 18 through July 19

Highlights: This exhibition focuses on the Poche Illustrateur series, celebrating notable illustrators such as Roman Cieślewicz, Honoré Daumier, Etienne Delessert, Guy Peellaert, and Saul Steinberg.

› In addition, two supporting exhibitions will be on view; Sarah Moon at Howard Greenberg Gallery, featuring new work, and Pace/MacGill Gallery will exhibit works by prominent photographers such as Robert Frank, Josef Koudelka, Duane Michals, Paolo Roversi, and Alfred Stieglitz.

› Visual Supplement: This week in the magazine The New Yorker ran photographs by Sarah Moon and Lee Freidlander, both of which are part of exhibitions celebrating the work of Delpire. Online, The New Yorker presents a stunning and concise slideshow summary of books and photographs from among the displays at Aperture, Hermès, Pace/MacGill, and Howard Greenberg.

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Delpire & Co. is coproduced by Rencontres d’Arles, la Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Delpire Editeur, and Aperture Foundation.Delpire & Co. has been made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art, the E.T. Harmax Foundation, and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

As part of our sixtieth anniversary celebration, Aperture Foundation, in collaboration with our partners, presents the exhibition Delpire & Co. featuring a half century of achievement in the life and career of visionary French publisher, editor, and curator Robert Delpire.

Over the past sixty years, the eyes and instincts of Robert Delpire have shaped much of the world’s understanding of photography. A prolific publisher and exhibition organizer, with a razor-sharp comprehension of the graphic arts, Delpire has had a defining hand in the careers of many of the master photographers of recent history.

Delpire & Co. (Delpire et Cie in the original French) was one of the highlights of the Rencontres d’Arles in summer 2009, and was subsequently given a major presentation at la Maison Européenne de la Photographie (related video) in Paris from October 2009 to January 2010—to which Vingt Paris Magazine said, “Savor it”—with the continued support of the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès.

The exhibition showcases Delpire’s rise to prominence in the world of photography through his pioneering and seminal work in magazine (see: Neuf, Le Nouvel Observateur, Photo Poche) and book publishing—titles including Gypsies (Aperture 2011) and Koudelka (Aperture 2007)— films, curatorship, and advertising for the past fifty years.

Delpire & Co. will be divided among four different venues, creating altogether a comprehensive exhibition on Delpire’s many initiatives. Howard Greenberg Gallery and Pace/MacGill Gallery will also have exhibitions concurrently on view in celebration of Robert Delpire’s life and work.

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Delpire & Co. Exhibition
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
6:00–8:00 pm
Exhibition on view: Thursday, May 10, 2012–Thursday, July 19, 2012

FREE

Aperture Gallery
New York, New York

›› Click here for details on all the exhibitions and events.
›› Join the conversation on Instagram and Twitter using #Delpire
›› Buy Gypsies, Photographs by Josef Koudelka w/ essay by Will Guy for 30% off.

By Anna Carnick

Illuminance by Rinko Kawauchi

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Rinko Kawauchi’s photographs celebrate the tiny gestures and unexpected patterns of everyday life. Known for her dreamlike yet unflinching aesthetic, the Tokyo-based artist explores the extraordinary in the mundane, championing the translucent beauty of life’s fleeting moments.

This past month, Kawauchi debuted Illuminance, her twelfth book and her first to be published outside of Japan, as well as an exhibition by the same name at the Gallery at Hermès. Drawn from fifteen years of work, this collection of previously unpublished images continues Kawauchi’s exploration of the fundamental life cycles and the world’s often overlooked wonders.

Amid all the excitement, Ms. Kawauchi sat down to answer a few of our questions.

AC: What first drew you to photography, and what about the medium keeps you engaged?
RK: I just like to think about our life and world through photography. It is the best method for me.

What type of camera(s) do you use?
Rolleiflex and Canon 5D. I just feel a good match with them. Also, they’re not too heavy.

Your work is so ethereal, connected by threads of seemingly random yet repetitive patterns. When you step out into the world to shoot, what are you looking for?
I’m looking for something to touch our subconscious.

What motivates you thematically as an artist?
My works are always meant to reveal evidence of life—such as the cycles, for example. This is what I need to live, so I would say that is my theme.

You have an extensive list of book titles under your belt now. Is there something specific you love about the book format, as opposed to other mediums?
I’ve just really loved the book format more than [any] others since I was small.

Lyrical, visual associations often structure your books. In Illuminance, for example, a circular child’s toy lies opposite a wall of spiraling graffiti, and an elongated spider stands opposite a lacy canopy of trees. How would you describe your process of image selection and composition?
It is really hard to explain it. I just follow my instincts—for shooting as well. I just would like to see something in the middle.

When determining a book’s composition, how do you maintain an emotional or narrative flow without becoming overly stiff or structured?
One image can be independently successful, but I believe that another, new perspective can be borne by connecting images to images, making a sequence of images.

Illuminance: how would you describe the series in your own words?
My obsession itself.

How was the title chosen?
As a metaphor for our life, in which we have different point of views. There are many ways to see our world.

Your exhibition opened recently at the Gallery at Hermès as well. Can you speak to the differences for an artist between book and exhibition presentation?
Making a book is more personal. Having an exhibition is a collaboration with a place, a space (Hermès, in this case).

For you, what is the biggest difference between Illuminance and your earlier books or series?
Time. It has been ten years since I published my first books.

How do you see yourself evolving as an artist?
I just would like to progress as an artist, as a human being with my work.

Thank you!

Illuminance is available now through Aperture.

The Illuminance exhibition is at the Gallery at Hermès now through July 16^th.
691 Madison Avenue, Fourth Floor, New York, NY, (212) 751-3181
Gallery open Monday–Saturday, 10:00 am–6:00 pm.

Artist profile:
Rinko Kawauchi (born in Shiga, Japan, 1972) studied graphic design and photography at Seian Junior College of Art and Design. Among her awards and accolades are the 1997 Grand Prix Prize at the Guardian Garden’s 9th Hitotsubo Exhibition, the 27th Ihei Kimura Photography Award in 2002, and the 2009 International Center of Photography Infinity Award in Art. She has had solo exhibitions at Fondation Cartier, Paris; Photographers’ Gallery, London; Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan; Hasselblad Center, Göteborg, Sweden; and Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, among other international venues. Kawauchi lives and works in Tokyo.