Shaken, Not Stirred: Box Galleries Launch Celebration of James Bond; Past, Present & Future (13 Feb – 24 Mar 2020)

Today sees the opening of Box Galleries’ Shaken, Not Stirred – celebrating the past, present and future of the James Bond franchise’s influence on 20th and 21st century art and a chance to enter the dazzling world of literature and cinema’s most famous spy, 007.

The blockbuster exhibition will be an immersive Bond experience comprising a series of new and archival works – including illustrations, screen prints and silkscreen paintings – from Terry O’Neill, Simon Claridge, Douglas Kirkland, Helmut Newton, Russell Young, Russell Marshall and Michael Turner.

The late Terry O’Neill demonstrates a sense of unflappable detachment in the company of the biggest names in show business, allowing him to achieve a level of intimacy with his ephemeral artistic subjects. O’Neill’s trustworthy magnetism saw the celebrities he spent so much time with seek his friendship, resulting in photographs that express the true personalities of these greats. 

Unrivalled in skill and artistic prolificity, O’Neill has made a significant contribution to the Western art scene, capturing on film the world’s most loved, most celebrated, most notorious and most sorely mourned celebrities over the past decades. 

Roger Moore (1973) & Sean Connery by Terry O’Neill

British contemporary artist, Simon Claridge blurs the line between fantasy and reality by creating portraits in such detail, fusing hyperrealism with the decadent use of diamond dust. The lasting effect is one of awe; the viewer is able to come face to face with icons of the 20th Century, yet is met with a sense of existential separation from the figures they perceive. 

Canadian photographer, Douglas Kirkland has photographed such legends as Marylin Monroe, Coco Chanel, and Audrey Hepburn, as well as stars of over one hundred motion pictures. From The Sound of Music to Titanic and The Great Gatsby, Kirkland’s lens has explored the universe of fame.

His work ranges from nudes exuding incredible softness and vulnerability to powerful portraits of the notable and the notorious. His photojournalism and fashion documentation can be found at the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Houston Center for Photography and the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.

Scottish actor Sean Connery as James Bond plays golf on a deserted film set in Pinewood Studios in London during the filming of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, 1971. Phot by Terry O’Neill.

Helmut Newton was a German high-fashion photographer whose subversive approach to his subjects earned him the title, King of Kink. Born on October 31, 1920 in Berlin, Germany, Newton’s Jewish heritage meant that he had to flee his home country during the Nazi rise to power. The artist settled in Australia in the 1940s, where he later set up a studio. Newton went on to photograph models Cindy Crawford and Charlotte Rampling for several well-known magazines, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Playboy, and Elle

Today, his works can be found in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Library of Australia in Canberra, and the International Center of Photography in New York.

Richard Marshall is an award-winning newspaper designer and journalist living and working in London. His work is informed by his illustrious career in the tabloid industry, fuelled by a dramatic use of CMYK colours, contemporary production techniques and β€˜red top’ subject matter. Marshall explores the sense of iconography of celebrity in the media through striking visuals and fluent witticism around socio-political issues and taboos. 

Brigitte Bardot Playing Cards (1965) by Douglas Kirkland & Right by Simon Claridge (Je T’aime)

British-American Pop artist, Russell Young is best known for compelling, larger-than-life silkscreen paintings that reverberate the ambition and glamorous excesses of 21st-century America. In his mixed-media work, he gleans from recent history and popular culture to create powerful portraits of time-honoured celebrities including Clint Eastwood and Marilyn Monroe. 

Michael Turner is an artist with an international reputation, both for his level of technical ability and craftsmanship, and the ambitious nature of his works. Turner has an affinity with animals and their natural habitats. He has specialised in sculpting with stainless steel as a medium for over ten years and enjoys its’ enduring and adaptable material. The various polishing, painting and heating techniques give each work a wholly unique finish and feel.

Michael has work in public collections at Wembley Stadium and a number of works throughout Asia, which includes a sculpture at a major financial institution in Beijing, China.

Elvis Gun Cheque, Silver on Paper by Russell Marshall

The exhibition precedes the long-awaited addition to the Bond film series – No Time To Die, on release 3rd April 2020 – and will see the posthumous launch of the new photography review, BOND: Photographed by Terry O’Neill, on 24th March 2020, the final night of the show.

The late O’Neill has a long-standing association with Bond, capturing the glamorous, roguish photographs of every James Bond actor, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig. The archive photographs are flanked by never-before-seen commentary from O’Neill, alongside a series of original essays on the world of James Bond by BAFTA-longlisted film writer, James Clarke. The volume also features exclusive interviews with a number of actors featured in O’Neill’s photographs over his star-studded career.

Shaken, Not Stirred is open to the public from 13th February – 24th March 2020.

Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 – 17:00; Sunday 11:00 – 17:00.

Main Image: Ursula Andress (1967) by Terry O’Neill
Above Image: Brigitte Bardot by Terry O’Neill

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