Leica Gallery LA presents Arthur Grace-Wtf? Jim McHugh-Still At It

ARTHUR GRACE

WTF?

During my well-travelled, decades-long career as a photojournalist, I was always focused on the assignment at hand. But the creative right side of my brain was constantly noticing images that had nothing to do with the straightforward coverage of the story I was working on. They became what I considered to be “personal pictures”. These were the photographs I shot for myself, which as it turned out, gave me more internal satisfaction than just about anything else I photographed. Probably because they were uniquely my own point of view

I realized it was always a certain kind of image that caught my eye. These photographs all had something in common that was hard to pinpoint at first, but I knew it when I saw it. I would immediately shoot the picture before it could shift composition or disappear altogether. It eventually became clear that what attracted me visually were images that I found to be odd, strange, unexpected, unexplainable, or just plain “out of sync”.

There’s a lyric from the old Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth” that for me encapsulates the images in this show.

“There’s something happening here, But what it is ain’t exactly clear…”

Arthur Grace

ARTHUR GRACE

Arthur Grace began his professional career in 1973 as a staff photographer for United Press International. During his award-winning career in photojournalism spanning three decades, he covered stories around the globe as a contract photographer for Time magazine and a staff photographer for Newsweek magazine. His photographs have appeared in leading publications worldwide, including on the covers of Life, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, Paris Match and Stern.

During his 50 year career, Mr. Grace has published six critically praised photographic books: Choose Me: Portraits of a Presidential Race, Comedians, State Fair, America 101, Robin Williams: A Singular Portrait, and Communism(s): A Cold War Album. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad, including solo shows at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the International Center of Photography in New York. Currently, his work is being exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Mr. Grace’s photographs are in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, the High Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the National Museum of American History, among others. His color photojournalism archives are housed at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin.

JIM MCHUGH

STILL AT IT

I photograph what produces emotion in me. Artists have great courage; their honesty inspires me and I search for those moments that express that. An invitation to a studio is a great privilege. For my architectural photographs, they are portraits not exact representations of structures. I’m always looking for the beauty while it still stands

Jim McHugh has garnered many awards for his photographs and is included in such prominent collections as the Getty Museum, the Walker Center, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Portrait Gallery in London. He has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. One of the original contributing photographers to Time inc’s People magazine, Jim was the official photographer for the Grammy Awards, and a contributing masthead photographer for Architectural Digest. His archives include such celebrity portraits and covers as Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Tina Turner and Joni Mitchell. Jim is critically acclaimed for his series of Artist Portraits including Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, and David Hockney. This is an ongoing personal project. He has published several books on artists. Two exemplar volumes are Chronicles Books’ “California Artists: New Work” with Henry Hopkins and Abbeville’s “The Art of Light and Space,” with Jan Butterfield. “Los Angeles: 40 Artists - Photographs by Jim McHugh.” was presented by the Getty Museum in partnership with Timothy Yarger Fine Art as an exhibition for their Pacific Standard Time program. PST celebrated the art and artists creating work in Los Angeles between 1945 and 1985. Robert Irwin, Sam Francis, Billy Al Bengston, Lita Albuqueque and Larry Bell are among the many included in the exhibit. McHugh is also renowned for his large format Polaroid imagery of Los Angeles, urban landscapes monumentalizing landmarks and neighborhoods, some of which are now invisible, derelict or gone. These pictures were first exhibited at Timothy Yarger Fine Art in a show of Jim’s work titled “Let’s Get Lost: Polaroids From The Coast.” Honored by the United Nations with the IPC Professional Photography Leadership Award, McHugh also received an International Photography Award First Prize for Fine Art Photography. The George Eastman House also presented their Architectural Photography Award to Jim for that same body of work, imagery of Los Angeles. Jim lives in Los Angeles with his wife Johnna, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet. Jim’s grandfather was the songwriter Jimmy McHugh who composed such Standards as “ On The Sunny-Side of the Street,” and “I’m in the Mood For Love.” Jim’s connection and love of Los Angeles is generational.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Leica Camera