Press Contact: Maja Orsic, [email protected]

Robert Klein Gallery at Ars Libri Presents Formento & Formento

 

  

 

BOSTON, MA - Following strong showings at Paris Photo 2013, Art Miami 2013, and The AIPAD Photography Show New York 2014, photographers FORMENTO & FORMENTO will have their first Boston show, American Beauty on Bruised Knees, at ROBERT KLEIN GALLERY AT ARS LIBRI with a First Friday reception on Friday, May 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

 

A commercial photographer and a stylist, BJ & Richeille Formento met on assignment in 2005 and were married three months later. Circumstance: American Beauty on Bruised Knees is an intensive project the couple started in November 2009, in the midst of the economic recession, as a means of understanding the changing face of the American Dream. Working from an Airstream trailer, Formento & Formento traveled to more than 25 states to photograph women they met online and along the way. What began as a visual story of love lost developed into a cinematic chronicle of hope, fear, passion, beauty, and defeat.

 

"[B]ack roads led us to ghost towns and forgotten strip malls, to abandoned churches and motels, to rotting steel mills and theatres, prisons, airports, and train stations," says BJ. "We found women in these towns to play our heroines." Formento & Formento have named Edward Hopper, Alfred Hitchcock, Cindy Sherman, and David Lynch as influences. Dramatically lit and styled, their work belongs to the twenty-first century but is grounded in the twentieth.

 

 

 

FORMENTO & FORMENTO, Allie XIV, Lancaster, California, 2010

 

 

The Formento & Formento exhibition coincides with the release of Boston magazine's May 2014 issue, which features a photo essay, Boston After Dark, by the artists. "When I first saw [Formento & Formento's] work," says Rachel Slade, Executive Editor of Boston magazine, "I loved the noir sensibility, the cinematic effects, the drama, and the beauty...They are master storytellers who present a world that's a little off, a little twisted, and yet always sizzlingly sexy...That's how I'd love to think of Boston itself."

 

"Formento & Formento wear rose-colored glasses but they are not without a critical eye," says

 

Richeille Formento was born in 1975 in London, England. She earned a BA in Graphic Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 1998 and has worked for many years as an art director and designer for major commercial and independent fashion labels.

 

ROBERT KLEIN GALLERY was established in 1980 and ranks among the world's most prestigious showrooms of fine art photography.

 

Robert Klein opened his Newbury Street space with early exhibitions of Diane Arbus, Annie Leibovitz, Sally Mann, and Hiroshi Sugimoto. From 1995 through 2008, Robert served as President of the Board of Directors of the Association of International Photography Dealers (AIPAD). During his tenure, Robert engineered the 2006 expansion of The AIPAD Photography Show New York to the Park Avenue Armory. The AIPAD Photography Show's move firmly established it as one of the leading photographic fairs in the world. 

 

Robert Klein Gallery maintains an extensive and ever-changing inventory of 19th century, 20th century, and contemporary photographs. Participating in international art fairs such as Paris Photo, The Armory Show - Modern, and The AIPAD Photography Show New York, Robert Klein Gallery provides its contemporary artists with international exposure while exhibiting works by recognized masters such as Ansel Adams, Helen Levitt, and Irving Penn. With over 40 combined years of experience and a profound knowledge base, the gallery staff is committed to serving as a resource for both novice and seasoned collectors.

 

38 Newbury St, Boston, MA, 02116

Tuesday - Friday, 10AM - 5:30PM

Saturday, 11AM - 5PM

closed Sunday & Monday

 

p 617.267.7997   e [email protected] 

 

ARS LIBRI, the internationally renowned rare bookdealer in the field of art, architecture, and photography, continues to show changing selections from its stock in its gallery at 500 Harrison Avenue. These include rare illustrated books, photographs, posters, and documents of Dada, Surrealism, Expressionism, Pop, Fluxus, and other modern art movements, as well as Renaissance and Baroque architectural treatises, Islamic manuscripts, 19th century photographs, and classic livres d'artiste by Picasso and Matisse.