Sex sells, as the saying goes, and in a new exhibition of “para-photographer” Robert Heinecken we are treated to a satirical breakdown of the mechanics of the process. Lessons in Posing Subjects takes a wry look at how models are manipulated to achieve the desired effects, from creating the sense of sleepiness for nightwear to the pitfalls of presenting animal prints correctly.
Heinecken, who died in 2006, described himself as a “para-photographer” as he often didn’t use a camera in his practice. Instead, the former fighter pilot and Marine officer used found images which he then put to use in new ways. One of his projects saw him insert pornographic images into issues of Time and Vogue, slipping the publications back onto newsstands to be bought by unsuspecting members of the public. This show at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool (in collaboration with Tate Liverpool), centres on his collection of photographs which dissect the theory of commercial portraiture, and there is also material from He/She, in which the photographer presents images (often of himself and partner Joyce Neimanas) with the addition of strained or sarcastic fictional dialogue. The 1981 series The Hite/Hustler Fashion Beaver Hunt also features. In this work Heinecken overlays cut-outs of genitalia from Larry Flint publications onto models posing for lingerie shoots. The show will run from 7 November to 11 January 2015.
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects/Lingerie (Tank and Hipster), 1981
6 SX-70 Polaroid prints mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects/Simulated Animal Skin Garments, 1982 (detail)
10 SX-70 Polaroid prints mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects/Simulated Animal Skin Garments, 1982
10 SX-70 Polaroid prints mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects : Standard Pose #2 (Hand/Head), 1982 (detail)
SX-70 Polaroid prints mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Figure / Joy / Girdle, 1980
3 SX-70 Polaroid Polacolor prints
152,4 x 60,9 cm. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Conversations about art + artists from He:/She: series. (#9), 1980
SX-70 Polaroid print and handwritten text on paper
27,9 x 35,6 cm. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects : Standard Pose #1 (Hands/Neck/Head), 1982
8 SX-70 Polaroid prints mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects/Simulated Animal Skin Garments, 1982 (detail)
10 SX-70 Polaroid prints mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
Robert Heinecken
Seated Figure / Martini, 1991
Magazine collage on found freestanding display figure
101,6 x 50,8 cm. Unique. Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York
Robert Heinecken
Lessons in Posing Subjects : Identical Garments, 1982 (detail)
SX-70 Polaroid print mounted on Rives BFK paper, lithographic title and text.
38 x 51 cm. Edition 9/10. The Robert Heinecken Trust
