The Fahey/Klein Gallery presents an exhibition of works by American artist and protégé of Salvador Dalí, Steven Arnold. Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary filmmaker, photographer, painter, illustrator, set and costume designer, and assemblage artist.
Steven Arnold’s work is a celebration of the surrealist tradition.
Steven’s 1972 film Luminous Procuress received much critical acclaim, which resulted in a Whitney Museum exhibition. The film was heralded by Salvador Dali as a masterpiece and he later set up a screening for NYC’s art elites. Dalí dubbed Arnold the ‘prince’ of his Court of Miracles, which included other counter-culture icons such as Donyale Luna, Ultra Violet, Amanda Lear, Marianne Faithful, David Bowie and Mick Jagger.
A friendship blossomed between Steven and Salvador which resulted in Steven moving to Figeres to study with Dalí and help create his Teatro-Museo Dalí. After this Steven established his salon on the West Coast of the United States in 1982, designing and shooting tableau-vivants, which were later turned into paintings and assemblage sculptures.
Arnold was diagnosed with AIDS at the height of his popularity in 1988 and died in 1994. He left behind thousands of negatives, drawings and sculptures. The Steven Arnold Estate has spent the past couple of years organizing the archive and preparing it for a rebirth, with the focus of a 2018 documentary called Heavenly Bodies (which could be available to screen at Paris Photo 2019).
Steven Arnolds works are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Cinémathèque Française in Paris, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MoMA), amongst others.
www.faheykleingallery.com
Paris Photo 2019
November 7–10, 2019
Grand Palais Paris
www.parisphoto.com