The Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present, Rebels, an exhibition of works by British photographer Janette Beckman. Covering four decades of photography this exhibition serves as a stunning snapshot of Janette’s significance in the world of art, photojournalism, music, fashion, and popular culture.
Janette Beckman has spent decades creating iconic images of larger-than-life rebels in music, fashion, and beyond. What gives her photographs their arresting flair is the unrehearsed and raw nature of each image — not unlike like the spontaneous wildness of the 1970’s and 1980’s subcultures themselves. Whether Janette’s images are grainy or slick, black & white or saturated with color, they’re never pretentious. With her fondness for rebellious eccentricity, Janette has a keen ability to capture her subjects’ complex inner lives. Her subjects seem ennobled by the complexity she strives to capture – resulting in images that translates subcultural life to intrigued outsiders. While Janette’s photographs span several years and continents, the tread that connects each image is that for those who found themselves in front of Janette’s lens are, in one way or another, rule breaking rebels.
Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of punk rock in London, working for publications like The Face & Melody Maker. She shot bands from The Clash to Boy George as well as documenting the rebellious youth culture fans and emblematic moments for iconoclasts like Blondie and the Police. Relocating to New York in 1983, Beckman was immediately drawn to the burgeoning hip-hop scene where she photographed trailblazers of the movement like Salt-N-Pepa, Run DMC, Grand Master Flash, Slick Rick, and LL Cool J. Fast forward to 2021, Beckman’s dedication to the rebellious still rings true today. Whether it’s photographing the BLM protests in 2020, or celebrating the subversive through collaborations with brands like Levi’s, Dior, and Gucci, Beckman has been and always will be an artist of her times.
Janette Beckman’s work is in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe. Beckman’s commercial work includes assignments for clients such as Dior, Kangol, Levi’s, Schott, and Shinola.