Sam Linder: Photo Works 2001-2008 Exhibition

Linder_NYFW_2018

Sam Linder: Photo Works 2001-2008 Exhibition

On a summer night in Gramercy Park, Photographer Sam Linder (1/2 of the design duo behind Linder) fused the eclectic worlds of the art purveyor and fashion enthusiast for an evening of borderline indecent… yet satirical appreciation of Polaroid film and digital stills.

 

Sam Linder NYFW 2018

Sam Linder

The artist premiered his work in 6 mini collections. A theme discovered beneath the series of TV Stills and abstract Polaroids was the mystery behind each frame. The mind wonders what inspired the photographer to combine pop culture references… with the cringe-worthy aftermath of terrorist attacks, and a study on destruction and death? Walking through the exhibition, the space transformed into an intensified 3 am internet binge. Bringing to the surface our darkest, most intimate search history.

Linder held the exhibition inside the National Arts Club (a National Historic Landmark founded in 1898). The mansion is situated along the pristine Gramercy Park, (home to Linder’s studio, Jimmy Fallon and Uma Thurman). Open to the public, the National Arts Club’s mission “is to stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts in NYC.”

While some of the New Yorkers in attendance wore pieces from Linder collections, there was a wide range of looks: Statement footwear, high fashion streetwear, uncommon prints and plays of pastels with edgy accessories filled the space with original, badass style. This made for a reassuring juxtaposition of modern contemporaries against the backdrop of high-society design elements in a pre-war interior.

“Young people now form their identities almost as much through versions of themselves that live on ‘the other’ side of the screen as on ‘this’ side.” – Sam Linder

Highlights from “Sam Linder Photo Works 2001 – 2008”

The exhibition was an exploration of self, the Sam Linder that sits alone in the dark and turns a blind eye to censorship… only to expose the darkest parts of the web, which captivate and fascinate. Linder dissects that which modern society considers taboo and immoral, proposing to reveal a collective psyche of a raunchy, bizarre, morbid existence only appreciated by the inherently melancholic and unbiased.

images via samlinder.net

“Search Results”

“Search Results” provides a birds’ eye view of generations of knowledge through visual imagery. A study on the fascination within our society that continually feeds each subject field.. eternally populating the search result, page after page. Linder used new exposure processes to take images that were originally high dimension photographs, then converted to digital bits and restored their multisensory elements.

“The search result images force the viewer to hover between two states of attention: attention to the individual images, The Parts; and attention to the effect they produce collectively, The Whole. It seems impossible to focus on both at once.”

“Frames”

“Without the [Polaroid] camera and the photographers intent, there is no cross, only intersecting lines in a visual field.”

“New York For The Aimless”

“The goal was to treat the 2-dimensional picture surface as the final and only important meaningful object.”

TV Stills

“The shared notions of space and the meanings that take place within it…form a kind of an alternate reality belonging only to the mind.”

“The common thread between these projects is the curiosity about the relationship between perception and conception. What shared methods are there of converting stimuli… into meaningful inner concepts, and – does the process run the other way – inner concepts altering visual perception?”

 

Sam Linder has been working with film and video since 2001. In 2012, he met his current business partner, Kirk Miller while shopping in LES. ‘In the years since they have created a partnership, and a process, that is both unconventional and dynamic. The results mix aggressive concepts, historical reference, and sensitivity to silhouette, creating the brand’s DNA.’ (CFDA)

Kirk_Millar_Sam_Linder_Backstage_Sept_2017_NYC

(L) Sam Linder and Kirk Millar during NYFW, 2017 | Getty

Launched in 2016, Linder is an experimental (often gender-neutral) menswear and womenswear luxury collection and boutique in SoHo.

Linder (repped by Purple PR) has been nominated for the 2018 CFDA International Woolmark Prize and recently presented their SS19 collection during NYFW: Men’s.

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