Prague City Gallery opens an exhibition dedicated to american photographer Bruce Weber

Starting Friday 20 September at Prague City Gallery’s Stone Bell House, Praguers and visitors to the nation’s capital can view My Education, an exhibition exploring six decades of outstanding work by world-renowned American photographer Bruce Weber.

Bruce Weber is best known for his photo series featured in fashion magazines such as Vogue, GQ, W Magazine, The Interview, and Vanity Fair, and for his collaborations with leading brands such as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. His photographs often capture young women and men in sporty, daring, and intimate moments. The exhibition at Prague City Gallery’s Stone Bell House will equally highlight his portraiture, reportage, and landscape work, as well as his music and fashion videos and feature films. Weber is always photographing important cultural and political figures, and some of his most famous images are his unique portraits of Nelson Mandela, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Louise Bourgeois, among others.

Bruce Weber

Bruce Weber: My Education also includes examples of Weber’s activities in the Czech Republic, where he shot a series with actor Heath Ledger in the year 2000. In addition, he has repeatedly worked with celebrities associated with the Czech Republic, such as Eva Herzigová and Martina Navrátilová.

Weber is also a successful filmmaker who has shot numerous documentaries and has made music videos for singers and bands such as the Pet Shop Boys and Chris Isaak. His film Broken Noses (1987) won the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at Sundance, and his documentary Let’s Get Lost (1988) about the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker was nominated for an Oscar.

Bruce Weber: My Education has been put together specifically for the unique spaces of the Stone Bell House in collaboration with the artist himself, who will be on hand in person at the exhibition opening. The exhibition concept was developed by Prague City Gallery’s main curator, Helena Musilová. 

“The work of Bruce Weber combines the most diverse range of approaches in an almost wildly postmodern fashion: his photographs do not reject a multilayered ‘cinematic’ way of seeing, while his films and videos possess a photographic emphasis on detail and distinctive lighting. It doesn’t matter whether a particular photograph was taken as part of a fashion campaign, as a random photograph on the street, or for a magazine’s portrait series – everything is brought together by Weber’s ability to capture a profound emotional charge, moments of vulnerability, intimacy, intense experiences, joy, pain, fatigue, love, triumph… He depicts the relationship between body and soul. The exhibition presents numerous now-iconic works that have significantly influenced lifestyle images and the interpretation and depiction of beauty while also inspiring millions of people around the world,” says curator Helena Musilová.

“All in all, preparations for the exhibition took five years. The production process itself took place simultaneously on two continents, with Weber’s team editing and scanning archival materials. The exhibition and archival prints and enlargements were then sent straight to Prague City Gallery. For Weber and his wife Nan Bush, the task of preparing a comprehensive retrospective for a European state-run institution represented a new challenge,” adds executive producer Markéta Tomková in describing the process involved in the exhibition’s creation.

“It’s fantastic that the Prague public will have the chance to see the work of an artist who brings together different worlds and communities in such a sensitive manner. Weber’s work reflects the diversity of human experience and thus contributes to the ongoing dialogue regarding identity and culture in contemporary society. Such a perspective in photography is deserving of our attention,” says Jiří Pospíšil, Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague for culture, tourism, ethnic minorities, heritage preservation, exhibitions, and animal welfare.

The exhibition’s creative producer is Milosh Harajda, whose studio also produced a Czech retrospective exhibition by David LaChapelle (Galerie Rudolfinum, 2011), the premiere of a documentary about Sergei Polunin (National Theatre Ballet, 2017), and a pop-up exhibition from the archives of fashion designer Alexander McQueen (Designer Gallery, Westfield shopping center, 2019).

The exhibition design is by established stage and costume designer Marek Cpin, who is known for his work for the Hermés fashion house and for the National Theatre, the Na Zábradlí Theatre, and Czech Television.

The legendary Taschen publishing house will mark this unique exhibition with the publication of an eponymously titled catalogue.

Bruce Weber: My Education has been organized with support from the Carollinum company, The House Foundation, and the Four Seasons Hotel Prague, where during the exhibition the public can check out an original library dedicated to Weber’s extensive archives of books and photographs.

“We at Carollinum know that Prague is not only an important European, but nowadays also a world metropolis. We support the interesting sporting, cultural and artistic events that take place here and we are happy to be part of such an exceptional exhibition. Personally, I’m looking forward to meeting photographer Bruce Weber, I love beauty, realness, people and dogs as much as he does. I cordially invite everyone to this wonderful show,” adds the owner of Carollinum Tamara Kotvalová.

“The House supports cultural and philanthropic activities related to the development of contemporary art. By supporting the exhibition Bruce Weber we initiate our activities,” says Eva Kilianová, spokesperson for The House Foundation.

The opening of the Bruce Weber exhibition was supported by Ultra Premium Brand with a CAMPARI welcome drink.

Prague City Gallery, Stone Bell House, Staroměstské náměstí 605/13, Prague 1
Tue–Sun 10 am–8 pm

Admission: CZK 200 full (adults) / CZK 90 reduced (students and seniors)
Tickets to the exhibition may be purchased at the gallery or online at GoOut.net.

Prague City Gallery’s exhibition programme is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The exhibition is held under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy in Prague.