“ANOTHER MAN FEATURE”,
London, UK2009
Christian Schoeler paints hypnotic, intimate oils of boys. The German artist constantly pushes definitions of masculinity towards some romantic, damaged ideal. After discussing ideas with AnOtherMan Fashion director Alister Mackie, the pair worked together on a project that melded art and fashion. Alister chose the clothes, both collabroated on backgrounds, and Christian photographed the models himself. For half of the shoot, Christian himself modelled for photographer Benjamin Huseby; for the other half, Christian photographed several young models in his Dusseldorf studio, and then spent two months transforming the results into a series of paintings.The atmospheric work draws on Édouard Manet and the complexity and chiaroscurs of Diego Velazquez. The aim was avoid making the results feel like illustration, and instead to
look at wider ideas about fashion: the fluidity of materials, ideas of realism and fantasy, the relationship between photography and paint. Underlying it all was Schoeler’s own fascination with the vulnerability, ecstasy and nonchalance in young men.
AnOtherMan, Spring/Summer 2009
Copyright all images: AnOtherMan, Photographer Benjamin Alexander Huseby, Text Francesca Gavin
Estate Management, Marnie Broering, München, Germany