Task 3 | Contemporary Artist

GEORGE HOLZ

George Holz is an American photographer whose work spans 30 years and includes nudes, fashion, and celebrity portraits. He is a native of Oak Ridge Tennessee, and graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1980. While at Art Center, Holz assisted for Helmut Newton, who urged him to move to Milan to pursue his vision. In Europe, Holz’s work appeared in Italian Vogue, Lei, Linea Italiana, Madame Figaro and French Elle. 

After five years in Europe, he returned to New York City in the mid 1980’s and opened a studio in the Village.

In New York, his fashion and beauty  editorial work appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Interview Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine. Holz photographed many advertising campaigns for diverse clients including Max Factor, DeBeers Diamonds, and Elizabeth Arden. His “Gold” campaign for the International Gold Corporation won him a Clio Award.

 In the early 1990's Holz’s work segued into celebrity portraiture. He began shooting in LA and NY for clients such as Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, and In Style.  He photographed major celebrities in music, film, sports and politics including Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, Madonna, Michael Jordan and President Bill Clinton. Holz photographed movie posters including  “Face Off”  for Paramount Pictures with John Travolta and Nicholas Cage.

Holz won a Grammy award for his photography on Suzanne Vega’s “Days of Open Hand” album cover. 

George currently divides his time between assignments in NY, LA and Europe.  When he’s not photographing, he lives with his wife, son, and animals on their farm in upstate New York.

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

The Art of Persuasion: A History of Advertising Photography, International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, Rochester NY, 1988 (permanent collection)

Centro Cultural /Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City 1999  (permanent collection)

Photographs by George Holz:  Hohschule fur Angewandte Hunst, Vienna, 1990

George Holz: G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Los Angeles, 1991

Nude in Photography:  La Foret Museum, Tokyo, 1993

George Holz Platinum Nudes: The Platinum Gallery Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1996

Original Sin: Staley Wise Gallery, New York, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, Fahey Klein Gallery

Los Angeles, A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans,  Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, John

Cleary Gallery, Houston, 1997-1998

The Portrait/The Nude III:  Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, 2001

Three Boys from Pasadena: George Holz, Mark Arbeit, and Just Loomis: A Tribute to Helmut Newton" Curated by June Newton:  Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin 2009,  Acte 2 Galerie, Paris 2010, and Clic Gallery, New York 2010

Clients Are:-

General Mills
Glamour Magazine
GQ
Hanes
Hershey’s
In Style
Italian Vogue
Kohler
L’eggs
L’Oreal
Lucky Magazine
Men’s Health
Men’s Journal
Mercury Records
Natori
New York Magazine
Nike
Oprah
Paramount Pictures
People
Pepsi
Reebok
Rolling Stone
Saks Fifth Ave
Self Magazine
Seventeen Magazine
Sony Records
Spin Magazine
Tequila Sauza
Turner Broadcasting
Vanity Fair
Virgin Records
Warner Bros Records
WB Network
Wrigleys
YMI

 Denotation

 Naked lady in a garden/park

Big bush

Wood borders

Grass/lawn

Connotation

Comedy aspect to the picture, despite it being fine art

Has she been pricked by the bush as it looks like it is an aloe vera.

To me i see that this lady has a big bush between her legs, it can also be seen as she has a lady garden ;)

All info sourced from:-

www.georgeholz.com