ThoughtGallery.org > Twenty Five Years of Photographs by the Legendary Christian Cravo CLOSING

Twenty Five Years of Photographs by the Legendary Christian Cravo CLOSING

Throckmorton Fine Art CHRISTIAN CRAVO“CHRISTIAN CRAVO: Twenty Five Years”

 at Throckmorton Fine Art

January 14 – February 27, 2016

“TWENTY FIVE YEARS is Christian Cravo’s fifth book, but it really could be viewed as his first. The photographs here achieve Cravo’s goal to “explore humanity” in ways less talented photographers can’t help but envy.

No photographer of his generation brings such a wealth of experiences in as diverse cultures and locales, and none has received the recognition Cravo has been awarded.

Throckmorton Fine Art is delighted to have represented Cravo for the past twenty years and to be the first to present TWENTY FIVE YEARS.”

                                                                                    -Spencer Throckmorton

NEW YORK Nov 2 – Throckmorton Fine Art (www.throckmorton-nyc.com) is presenting TWENTY FIVE YEARS by Christian Cravo, the fifth book of photographs by the Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, at its New York gallery from January 14 to February 27, 2016.

Gallery founder Spencer Throckmorton says he is proud to have represented Christian Cravo for the past twenty years, and that working with the third-generation artist is a unique privilege. “Christian grew up the son and grandson of legendary Brazilian artists, and has taken seriously the challenge to forge an identity of his own.”

Christian Cravo was born in Brazil in 1974 the offspring of a unique union between the renowned Brazilian photographer from Bahia, Mário Cravo Neto (1947-2009) and Eva Christensen, from Denmark. Christian is also the grandson of the equally renowned sculptor Mario Cravo Jr., so he is the scion of a world that favors the visual arts in Brazil’s most colorful city, Salvador.

When Cravo’s parents came together, the distant and disparate worlds they came from fostered an amazing curiosity in their son who in time used these geo-cultural touchstones to great artistic advantage.

After early years in the tropical and artistic milieu of Bahia, Christian Cravo traveled to Denmark with his mother when he was seven. But the geographic distance made him long all the more to forge stronger ties with his father’s side of the family. He started on that journey through the arts. At the age of 12, while still in Denmark, he began experimenting with photography, building a darkroom in his home. He spent most of his teenage years in that space. When he was 17, he returned to Brazil, drawn by his own wanderlust and his father’s encouragement. For two years, Christian traveled around the backlands of the Brazilian Northeast and discovered the beauty of that country for the first time. That immersion led him to view photography as the medium through which he could get to know the world and people. At that moment, he decided he wanted to make that craft his profession.

Cravo returned to Denmark at 19 to serve in the Danish army and, experiencing the contrast of the bright white light of the Brazilian northeast with the opacity of Danish light, he felt a propelling force that became the foundation for his future career.

Unlike most artists with dual citizenship, Christian Cravo did not fall prey to the recurrent syndrome of cultural identity, that is, he did not feel European in Brazil and Brazilian in Europe, nor did he experience a pendulum or sliding dynamic. On the contrary, he used that duality to his advantage to break down his own barriers, going beyond his geo-cultural boundaries. In his words, [he wanted to] explore humanity.

Over the course of nearly two and a half decades, Christian has produced a vast photographic record of India during over ten visits, spent nine years in Haiti, photographed the Brazilian Northeast as a life project, and in the last ten years he has made regular visits to Africa.

After working long and hard, he saw his work take shape and gain recognition, not only nationally but also outside of Brazil, through exhibitions at the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, the Billedhusets Galeri in Copenhagen, the S.F. Camera Works Gallery in San Francisco, the Ministry of Culture in Brasília, the Museu de Arte Sacra in Belém, and group exhibitions including those at the Witkin Gallery, the Houston FotoFest, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and El Museo del Barrio in New York City.

Since 1996 Cravo has been represented in New York City by Throckmorton Fine Art, a leading source for important contemporary Latin American photography. Spencer Throckmorton and his colleagues Kraige Block and Norberto Rivera have worked closely with Cravo to stage four impactful exhibitions and to promote books and catalogues of his work. During that period, Christian has also won awards from the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, the Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography, a scholarship from the Vitae Foundation and a prestigious fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation for his studies of the Brazilian Northeast. In 2007 Christian was nominated for the Paul Huf Award in the Netherlands, which selects the 100 most promising contemporary photographers, and in 2008 he received a nomination for the Prix Pictet (United Kingdom/Switzerland), the most important award for themes of sustainability in photography. He was the only South American photographer nominated.

Christian Cravo’s first book, Irredentos, published in 2000, portrayed the life and faith of the Brazilian backlands. In 2005, Autrement published his second book in Paris, “Rome noire, ville métisse”, a gorgeous collection of images of black culture in the state of Bahia. The Gardens of Eden was his third book, published in 2010. His latest editorial project “enlightened Exú”, is a retrospective book on the life and work of his grandfather, Mário Cravo Júnior, begun by his late father Mario Cravo Neto, who passed away on August 9, 2009. Currently, Christian is working on personal projects in Africa, though his Father’s premature death has given Christian a new mission: the creation of the Mario Cravo Neto Institute to preserve his father’s work and maintain his legacy. Now married and the father of three daughters, the artist is living in São Paulo, from where he travels the world.

Throckmorton Fine Art is the premier dealer offering vintage and contemporary Latin American photography, Pre-Columbian art, Chinese jades and Tribal art. The gallery participates in internationally acclaimed fairs, including The Winter Antiques Show in New York each January, AIPAD and during March offers Chinese Jades during ASIA WEEK.  The gallery’s commitment to connoisseurship is underscored by its sales to such major museums as The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, along with the Reina Sofia in Madrid. Portions of collections the gallery was instrumental in forming have been donated to the Louvre.  The gallery loans examples on a regular basis to such significant institutions as the National Gallery in London. 

Throckmorton Fine Art presents

“CHRISTIAN CRAVO: Twenty Five Years”

January 14, to February 27, 2016

THROCKMORTON FINE ART

145 East 57th Street, third floor, New York, NY 10022

Tel: 212 223 1059. Fax: 212 223 1937

[email protected] www.throckmorton-nyc.com

Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 5pm or by appointment

Please contact Susan Bishopric THE BISHOPRIC AGENCY

212-289-2227 [email protected] for High resolution images and interviews

 

 











When: Sat., Feb. 27, 2016 at 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Throckmorton Fine Art CHRISTIAN CRAVO“CHRISTIAN CRAVO: Twenty Five Years”

 at Throckmorton Fine Art

January 14 – February 27, 2016

“TWENTY FIVE YEARS is Christian Cravo’s fifth book, but it really could be viewed as his first. The photographs here achieve Cravo’s goal to “explore humanity” in ways less talented photographers can’t help but envy.

No photographer of his generation brings such a wealth of experiences in as diverse cultures and locales, and none has received the recognition Cravo has been awarded.

Throckmorton Fine Art is delighted to have represented Cravo for the past twenty years and to be the first to present TWENTY FIVE YEARS.”

                                                                                    -Spencer Throckmorton

NEW YORK Nov 2 – Throckmorton Fine Art (www.throckmorton-nyc.com) is presenting TWENTY FIVE YEARS by Christian Cravo, the fifth book of photographs by the Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, at its New York gallery from January 14 to February 27, 2016.

Gallery founder Spencer Throckmorton says he is proud to have represented Christian Cravo for the past twenty years, and that working with the third-generation artist is a unique privilege. “Christian grew up the son and grandson of legendary Brazilian artists, and has taken seriously the challenge to forge an identity of his own.”

Christian Cravo was born in Brazil in 1974 the offspring of a unique union between the renowned Brazilian photographer from Bahia, Mário Cravo Neto (1947-2009) and Eva Christensen, from Denmark. Christian is also the grandson of the equally renowned sculptor Mario Cravo Jr., so he is the scion of a world that favors the visual arts in Brazil’s most colorful city, Salvador.

When Cravo’s parents came together, the distant and disparate worlds they came from fostered an amazing curiosity in their son who in time used these geo-cultural touchstones to great artistic advantage.

After early years in the tropical and artistic milieu of Bahia, Christian Cravo traveled to Denmark with his mother when he was seven. But the geographic distance made him long all the more to forge stronger ties with his father’s side of the family. He started on that journey through the arts. At the age of 12, while still in Denmark, he began experimenting with photography, building a darkroom in his home. He spent most of his teenage years in that space. When he was 17, he returned to Brazil, drawn by his own wanderlust and his father’s encouragement. For two years, Christian traveled around the backlands of the Brazilian Northeast and discovered the beauty of that country for the first time. That immersion led him to view photography as the medium through which he could get to know the world and people. At that moment, he decided he wanted to make that craft his profession.

Cravo returned to Denmark at 19 to serve in the Danish army and, experiencing the contrast of the bright white light of the Brazilian northeast with the opacity of Danish light, he felt a propelling force that became the foundation for his future career.

Unlike most artists with dual citizenship, Christian Cravo did not fall prey to the recurrent syndrome of cultural identity, that is, he did not feel European in Brazil and Brazilian in Europe, nor did he experience a pendulum or sliding dynamic. On the contrary, he used that duality to his advantage to break down his own barriers, going beyond his geo-cultural boundaries. In his words, [he wanted to] explore humanity.

Over the course of nearly two and a half decades, Christian has produced a vast photographic record of India during over ten visits, spent nine years in Haiti, photographed the Brazilian Northeast as a life project, and in the last ten years he has made regular visits to Africa.

After working long and hard, he saw his work take shape and gain recognition, not only nationally but also outside of Brazil, through exhibitions at the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, the Billedhusets Galeri in Copenhagen, the S.F. Camera Works Gallery in San Francisco, the Ministry of Culture in Brasília, the Museu de Arte Sacra in Belém, and group exhibitions including those at the Witkin Gallery, the Houston FotoFest, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and El Museo del Barrio in New York City.

Since 1996 Cravo has been represented in New York City by Throckmorton Fine Art, a leading source for important contemporary Latin American photography. Spencer Throckmorton and his colleagues Kraige Block and Norberto Rivera have worked closely with Cravo to stage four impactful exhibitions and to promote books and catalogues of his work. During that period, Christian has also won awards from the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, the Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography, a scholarship from the Vitae Foundation and a prestigious fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation for his studies of the Brazilian Northeast. In 2007 Christian was nominated for the Paul Huf Award in the Netherlands, which selects the 100 most promising contemporary photographers, and in 2008 he received a nomination for the Prix Pictet (United Kingdom/Switzerland), the most important award for themes of sustainability in photography. He was the only South American photographer nominated.

Christian Cravo’s first book, Irredentos, published in 2000, portrayed the life and faith of the Brazilian backlands. In 2005, Autrement published his second book in Paris, “Rome noire, ville métisse”, a gorgeous collection of images of black culture in the state of Bahia. The Gardens of Eden was his third book, published in 2010. His latest editorial project “enlightened Exú”, is a retrospective book on the life and work of his grandfather, Mário Cravo Júnior, begun by his late father Mario Cravo Neto, who passed away on August 9, 2009. Currently, Christian is working on personal projects in Africa, though his Father’s premature death has given Christian a new mission: the creation of the Mario Cravo Neto Institute to preserve his father’s work and maintain his legacy. Now married and the father of three daughters, the artist is living in São Paulo, from where he travels the world.

Throckmorton Fine Art is the premier dealer offering vintage and contemporary Latin American photography, Pre-Columbian art, Chinese jades and Tribal art. The gallery participates in internationally acclaimed fairs, including The Winter Antiques Show in New York each January, AIPAD and during March offers Chinese Jades during ASIA WEEK.  The gallery’s commitment to connoisseurship is underscored by its sales to such major museums as The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, along with the Reina Sofia in Madrid. Portions of collections the gallery was instrumental in forming have been donated to the Louvre.  The gallery loans examples on a regular basis to such significant institutions as the National Gallery in London. 

Throckmorton Fine Art presents

“CHRISTIAN CRAVO: Twenty Five Years”

January 14, to February 27, 2016

THROCKMORTON FINE ART

145 East 57th Street, third floor, New York, NY 10022

Tel: 212 223 1059. Fax: 212 223 1937

[email protected] www.throckmorton-nyc.com

Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 5pm or by appointment

Please contact Susan Bishopric THE BISHOPRIC AGENCY

212-289-2227 [email protected] for High resolution images and interviews

 

 

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