02.12.11 - 21.01.12 Colour Constructions
07.10.11 - 12.11.11 Jerusalem
08.09.11 - 01.10.11 High Tide
15.07.11 - 25.08.11 Patagonia
13.05.11 - 09.07.11 Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from th...
24.02.11 - 21.04.11 Sohei Nishino - The Diorama Map Series
08.12.10 - 12.02.11 Winter Contemporary
14.10.10 - 06.12.10 Robert Bergman
10.09.10 - 10.10.10 Daido Moriyama
26.07.10 - 21.08.10 Guy Bourdin
10.06.10 - 17.07.10 Alex Prager - Week End
07.05.10 - 05.06.10 Daniele Tamagni and Araminta de Clermont
24.03.10 - 01.05.10 Yoshihiko Ueda - QUINAULT
14.01.10 - 20.02.10 Kishin Shinoyama- NUDE
25.11.09 - 09.01.10 C O L O U R - Group Show
22.10.09 - 21.11.09 Ellen von Unwerth- Fräulein
10.09.09 - 17.10.09 Starting with a Photograph
27.07.09 - 05.09.09 Revive - Group Show
04.06.09 - 25.07.09 Ofer Wolberger (Life with) Maggie
21.04.09 - 30.05.09 Boris Savelev- 31 Years
11.03.09 - 20.04.09 Miyako Ishiuchi Mother's
05.02.09 - 10.03.09 Scarlett Hooft Graafland-You Winter, ...
13.01.09 - 31.01.09 John Davies Rachel Whiteread HOUSE
20.11.08 - 10.01.09 Nobuyoshi Araki- Hana Kinbaku
09.10.08 - 17.11.08 Simon Norfolk - Full Spectrum Dominance
30.08.08 - 04.10.08 Tiina Itkonen - Ultima Thule
25.06.08 - 27.08.08 Polly Borland - Bunny
25.04.08 - 16.06.08 Alex Prager - The Big Valley
07.03.08 - 12.04.08 Tod Papageorge - Passing through Eden
28.11.07 - 11.01.08 Jeff Bark
04.10.07 - 26.11.07 Eyes Of An Island - Japanese Photogra...
06.08.07 - 31.08.07 Group Show I
21.06.07 - 21.07.07 Valerie Belin
20.04.07 - 01.06.07 Scarlett Hooft Graafland
22.02.07 - 07.04.07 John Davies - The British Landscape
26.11.06 - 03.01.07 Jeff Bark - Abandon
01.10.06 - 28.10.06 Eleven Contemporaries
01.07.06 - 15.08.06 Valérie Belin - Pallette & Chips
07.10.05 - 26.10.05 ARAKI
08.06.05 - 20.08.05 Dodo Jin Ming - Free Element / Behind...
04.02.05 - 24.03.05 Tina Itkonen - Inughuit
24.06.04 - 30.08.04 Desiree Dolron - Xteriors
26.11.03 - 03.01.04 Laura Letinsky
24.09.03 - 22.11.03 Desiree Dolron - "Te dí todos mis su...
For past exhibitions at Michael Hoppen Gallery click here
Alex Prager - The Big Valley
25.04.08 - 16.06.08
Kate 2008
© Alex Prager
C-Type Print
35.5 x 48"
Cinematic and darkly playful, The Big Valley is a series of highly saturated staged portraits by Los Angeles based artist, Alex Prager. For her first solo UK exhibition this entirely new work will be shown alongside photographs from her high-successful Polyester series.
Prager photographs her female subjects in a style unashamedly reminiscent of the great mid 20th Century film directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Douglas Sirk. Within the naivety of her compositions and colour palette there is the suggestion of an impending narrative, not unlike old movie stills once displayed outside every cinema. Prager’s photographs offer us segments of stories that encourage us to imagine for ourselves the missing passages beyond the edges of the frame. Often shot from an unexpected angle and unusually lit, the audience are positioned very much as voyeurs. Synthetic wigs, fake birds and retro costumes are meticulously planned and her models cast as players frozen in the narrative. On the surface these models appear polished and eerily near perfection, a utopia sprung with tension. Like Guy Bourdin, the king of photographic mise-en-scène, Prager demands more than simply a ‘pretty picture’.
Born in Los Angeles, Prager has received no formal education since the 8th grade, spending time between Los Angeles, Florida and Lucerne, Switzerland. A self-taught photographer, Prager was originally inspired by stumbling upon a William Eggleston exhibition at the Getty Museum. Eggleston’s early influence is still evident in Prager’s prominent use of colour. Since taking up photography at the age of 20 her photographs have been included in 13 exhibitions including a recent solo show at Robert Berman Gallery, Los Angeles, and she has shot for numerous publications include i-D, Flaunt, Complex, Elle Japan, MOJO and Rolling Stone.