Leonard Nimoy: UNSEEN
Fifty Never Before Exhibited Photographs
On Exhibit: September 5-October 25, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, September 9, 6-8pm, in conjunction with Arts Night Out
In Leonard Nimoy’s honor, and in conjunction with the many 50th anniversary celebrations of Star Trek, we have decided to display 50 previously printed and signed, but never before exhibited, photographs.
We will be screening clips of Leonard Nimoy discussing his photography and gallery owner Richard Michelson will be available to sign copies of his newest picture book, Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy.
Two and a half years prior to his passing, in the summer of 2012, Leonard Nimoy decided to organize his photographic oeuvre. He scanned and emailed me 384 contact sheets containing 20-35 images each, for a total of almost 10,000 shutter snaps. This was before he went digital with his final series, Secret Selves.
Over the years we have exhibited work from his three major books: Shekhina, The Full Body Project, and Secret Selves, as well as additional photographs from The Black and White Series, Classic Nudes, Early Work, and the Dance Series. Even so, only about 1% of his output has been viewed publicly.
Looking through his life’s work, he wrote to me:
“I’m reminded of the story of the Emperor who commissions a portrait of himself to be done by an important artist. He waits for months, angrier and angrier. Finally he goes to the artist’s studio demanding to know why he’s been kept waiting. The artist asks him to sit and quickly paints a great portrait. Now the Emperor is furious. If the thing could be done so quickly why was he kept waiting so long? The artist takes him into the next room and shows the Emperor the thousands of preliminary sketches he has done in preparation for the work.”
I was surprised by the sheer number of excellent images. I chose some of my favorites and Leonard concurred. We planned to group a selection of the best images by theme into five limited edition boxed sets of 25 photographs each. Only Eye Contact was compiled before Leonard passed away.