A Compassionate Eye: The Work of Victor Arimondi September 23, 2009

Famed fashion & art photographer Victor Arimondi was known for his unique eye and sensuous style. This is the first major retrospective of his work since his death from AIDS/HIV in 2001
www.victorarimondi.net

If a picture is worth a thousand words then the iconic images of photographer Victor Arimondi (www.victorarimondi.net) are an unfinished epic: a tone poem that blurs the boundaries of fashion and art, and delves into realms of the sensual, the celebratory and society’s disenfranchised. In the first major retrospective of the artist’s work since his death from AIDS/HIV in 2001, A Compassionate Eye: The Work of Victor Arimondi explores the incredible breadth of the internationally-acclaimed photographer often compared to – but lesser known than – such contemporaries as Mapplethorpe, and Bianci. The exhibit runs through December 2 at the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center of San Francisco’s Main Public Library (100 Larkin Street, 3rd Floor). Entrance to the exhibit is free and open to the public.

Part of New York’s heady “pop art” era, Arimondi started as a fashion model before turning the lens on his former life often citing his admiration for the work of Avedon as one of his inspirations. Born in Italy in 1942, it was in Sweden that Arimondi was discovered while working as a laborer. Soon, his rough-hewn beauty made him one of Europe’s most popular regulars in print and on the runway, an experience which led him to his ultimate career. His varied palette and incredible output – with more than 3000 photos -- included male nudes, high fashion treatments, photo montages and later documenting the plight of the homeless and the onslaught of AIDS / HIV. When he died in his adopted home of San Francisco on July 24, 2001, his face and work had graced most of the world’s top fashion publications and several books, now collectors’ items.

“My approach to photography has never been causal,” Arimondi once said. “Since I posed in front of the camera so many years, my experience with talented photographers made me realize a way to express my inner world. My approach to beauty is dominated by my classical background and European style. I came to this country to further develop my style and spirit – I believe that I have been faithful to my ideal.”