Keyes Art is proud to present COLORS, a two man exhibition curated by Shannah Laumeister Stern featuring limited editions of Bert Stern’s early avant-garde work and sculptures by Nathan Slate Joseph. On view from August 10th through August 30th.

Bert Stern– Colors is a view into the world of the vibrant, bold, and innovative works of photographer, Bert Stern. In 1962, Bert was a rising star in the world of Advertising & Fashion photography. His groundbreaking Ads, in the fifties to early sixties, already included the likes of Polaroid Camera, I. Miller Shoes, Pepsi, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dansk, Canadian Club, and many more. His ads for Smirnoff Vodka were considered revolutionary in the advertising world, turning Americans from traditional gin Martini to Vodka Martini drinkers.

Bert Stern became the last photographer to do a professional shoot of Marilyn Monroe on June 21st 1962 at the Bel Air hotel. Bert spent the next five years pushing the limits of photography by experimenting with some of his most iconic black & white photographs of the twentieth century, turning Marilyn Monroe, twiggy, and other of his own B&W photographs into bright vibrant colorful images via SilkScreens and Serigraphs. 

 In 1961, Stanley Kubrick contacted Bert Stern and asked him to take pictures of Sue Lyon, the actress who played Lolita in the movie he had just completed. Bert had just read the book and came up with the idea of bringing Lolita to Sag Harbor for the shoot. He underlined quotes from the book and created one of  the most quintessential images in the century of Lolita.

Colors exhibition enter into Bert’s world of his Avant Garde work from 1962- 1967, including one time limited editions of Bert Stern’s early work, such as serigraphs, silkscreens, and his colorful view of the world in photographs. These select works are handpicked from his personal archives. They were originally offered at his revolutionary store which he conceived and opened himself in 1967 titled, On 1st. 

Stern photographed Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra; along with celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Madonna, Marlon Brando, Kate Moss, Lee Radziwell, Bridgette Bardot, Dali, Gary Cooper, Jean Shrimpton, Buster Keaton, Edie Sedgwick, Marcel Marceau, Lucille Ball, Goldie Hawn and Drew Barrymore and so many more.

Nathan Slate Joseph– Nathan Slate Joseph, a New York based artist has been an integral member of the New York art scene for more than 50 years. Joseph blurs the boundaries between painting, color and sculpture.

“I can’t just paint color so it looks nice on the wall. Colors are nice. But how do you get colors to speak to you visually...The application of pure pigments..getting the quality of the paint to be softer...(the process) is more than just something painted on a surface. It gives the quality of something that’s  in the surface...it’s color, age and time.”

Joseph was awarded an Art in Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects in 2003, he was featured by Sundaram Tagore Gallery at La Bienniale di Venezia in 2015, while also receiving an international award from La Florence Bienniale 2007. He has collaborated with architect Adam Tihany on numerous public projects. His work is installed at The Breakers, Palm Beach; The Four Seasons, Abu Dhabi; and the Dan Eilat Hotel, Eilat, Israel. Nominated for a guggenheim fellowship by John Chamberlain.

His paintings have been acquired by the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey; and the Art in Embassies Program, Washington, DC, for United States embassies in Cyprus, Mexico and Turkey. Private collectors include artist John Chamberlain, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, philanthropist and art collector Beth Rudin De Woody, Larry Rivers and interior designer Adam Tihany.

He currently lives and works in Sag Harbor, New York and recently opened a studio in Palm Beach.