For the first time in the UK, world renowned celebrity photographer John Stoddart will showcase a provocative two-part exhibition at London’s favourite French restaurant, L’Escargot on 26th September 2017. The exhibition will showcase Stoddart’s iconic celebrity portraits from Martin Scorsese to Daniel Craig as well as a series of 22 photographs representing his unique vision of the journey of life. The two-part exhibition will be set in one of London’s most historic and iconic restaurants, offering guests the opportunity to dine among Hollywood stars.
Considered as one of the most important English photographers of today, Stoddart began his photographic career in his home town of Liverpool receiving his first big break, as a photographer in the early 1980s with Frankie Goes to Hollywood; creating what has become one of his, and the music worlds, most iconic images. Each photograph displayed in this two-part retrospective is taken directly from a negative and have had no digital editing, revealing Stoddart’s uncanny ability to see inside and capture the very essence of his subjects.
Commenting on this John Stoddart said “I’m thrilled to display a diverse body of my work for the first time at L’Escargot. It’s a London dining institution with its own incredible history of celebrities and influential characters that have taken a seat for dinner. It made perfect sense to display a collection of my most provocative and iconic work here. ” John Stoddart 2017
The first part of the exhibition, displayed in the main dining room, aptly titled From Beverley Hills to Soho: The portraits of John Stoddart consist of a selection of Stoddart’s most important celebrity portraits over three decades, highlighting his true artistry. From Frankie Goes to Hollywood to pierce Brosnan and ending with his iconic portrait of Daniel Craig, capturing Hollywood’s dazzling elite before they rose to fame. In the days before social media, Stoddart’s portraits let us into the elusive world of celebrities showing them as people with real emotions, from Catherine Zeta-Jones dancing on a bed in the Dorchester Hotel to Jeremy Irons sitting in the back of a taxi looking straight into the lens. Stoddart captured their natural beauty and through this managed to create the most magnificent works of art and some of the most important photographic celebrity portraits of the second half of the 20th century.
The second part of Stoddart’s exhibition named Memento Mori is a series of 22 photographs taken over many years from Stoddart’s various photography sessions. They come together in this unique display, presenting Stoddart’s unique ‘vision’ of the journey of life; beginning with the alpha and ending with the omega of life. Through these images, Stoddart beautifully encapsulates our passions, desires and fears from birth, death and everything in between. These photographs are adult in nature but for the first time, demonstrate an alternative body of work by the famed photographer.
L’Escargot is an iconic establishment set within the heart of Soho, with an incredible heritage, famous for its bourgeois French cooking snails. Over the years L’Escargot has seated a plethora of stars from stage to screen, including, Coco Chanel, John Gielgud, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Ralph Richardson, Judy Dench to Princess Diana, making it the perfect setting for a Stoddart retrospective.
The exhibition will run from 26th September –6 th October at L’Escargot, 48 Greek Street, London, Soho, W1D 4EF and is free for the public to attend. Alternatively guests are welcome to book a table and enjoy dining in the company of Hollywood Icons.