ICONS: Eikoh Hosoe

© Eikoh Hosoe

On May 6, 2010, Eikoh Hosoe was presented with the 18th-Annual Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Photography by the National Arts Club. This great evening was hosted by Master of Ceremonies Dr. Stanley Burns, President O. Aldon James, Jr., and Catherine Johnson, Chair of the Photography Committee, with whom I work very closely. The unbelievable list of previous honorees names some of my favorite artists, including Duane Michals (1994) and William Eggleston (2003).

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ICONS: Marilyn Manson

© Marilyn Manson

Multimedia artist and provocateur Marilyn Manson has been a consistently subversive force in American popular culture for the past 15 years. Since his first nationally released album Portrait of an American Family, he has waged continuous aural wars against religion, the state, corporations, and the status quo. His second album, Antichrist Superstar, catapulted his career and put him squarely in the sights of conservative america. The album was a reflection on the growing pains of an artist, a commentary on both fame and the expectations it brings. Manson’s no-holds-barred approach to musical activism is often maligned by his critics and blamed for everything from school shootings to teenage suicides. However, his insightful responses in media interviews have shown his deep understanding of the concepts that he opposes.

Marilyn Manson interview with Bill O’Reilly:

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ICONS: Floria Sigismondi

The creative process is such an mysterious phenomenon, equally elusive to scientists as it is to artists. While the human experience demands that we strive to understand it, our own inner workings will forever remain a gray space, an unknown method of connections with or without resolution. In my blog series ICONS, I will attempt to examine my creative process as I divulge my greatest sources of inspiration, my biggest influences, and what drives me the most as an artist.

© Floria Sigismondi

The photographer and director Floria Sigismondi has a unique style that continues to develop throughout her career. Her dark contrast-driven imagery has a nouveau-surrealist feel to it that makes it intoxicating to experience. Each viewing is an opportunity to step into an alternate reality forcing you to reinterpret your own. Her work often contains political undertones, a challenge to question authority, and the social mores that define our culture.

Looking at some of her earliest work, the elements of her style were all present even if they hadn’t yet fully coalesced. Through the use of selective focusing and playing with time-scale, she not only created alternate universes, she created unique ways to experience these surrealist environments.

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