Why

I am not really sure why I keep looking at the pictures in this book. People are always asking about this body of work, and I don’t know what to really say anymore, except that it began with a simple conversation with Andy and me, and ended up with what you see in this book.

At the end of the day, I love publishing books; I love re- looking at my work, at other’s works. For me it’s like seeing a movie for the second or third time. You always see something that you missed the first time around.

In the case of these “altered image” photographs, I don’t see them as drag photos anymore, if I ever did. They are not drag photos. They are a sort of a show and tell about identity, and changing identity, not really drag, not really Andy in drag, not really even Andy Warhol any more, but a record of the collaboration between the two of us: poser and picture taker. That’s it.

Read into it what you want, that’s always the best way. So much has been written about this series of photographs, writers’ opinions, people’s opinions, reviewers’ opinions. Yes the subject is a famous artist who was obsessed with image, the surface appearance of things, who kept going back to portraiture in many forms to reflect what he saw. Definitely these images are about the “man in the mirror.”

This time around, Peter Wise came in with an over the top, “re branding” of this work with his title “Lady Warhol”, and Alberto Arnaut came up with the idea of publishing these works in a different, larger format, showing them in a new, clearer light.

For me, working on this monograph was an exercise in reviewing my own work, over twenty-eight years later, to see what was still interesting. I am still staring at the subtle expression changes in the poses Andy got into, the subtleties in his body language.

The wigs and the make-up are still there, Andy is still working them in some messy combination of attempted beauty and caricature. But now I look more at what Andy was doing with his eyes, the small changes in the shape of his mouth, and especially in the way he extended his poses all the way through his hands. Andy and I were relaxed enough to let his grace and his awkwardness show. I see in these images openness and vulnerability and Andy’s need to express himself. These were parts of Andy that he rarely exposed in public, but I remember them well.

I guess I’m still interested in that “conversation” between friends over two days in June 1981 because the pictures still talk to me today. CM NYC APRIL 2010

On October 18th, the Berlin-based galerie hiltawsky will present the latest show by New York photographers Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, a.k.a. The Hilton Brothers. With ”Andy Dandy”, a combined diptych of Makos´ ”Altered Image” portraits of Warhol and Solberg´s flower portraits, as heart of the exhibition, the show will feature around 30 colour photographs from three artistic identities.

18 October @ 7PM

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For decades, commentators have observed that Andy Warhol's influence is dominant in contemporary art. This exhibition will be an in-depth examination of the nature and extent of the Warhol sensibility organized around themes, each of which will be delineated by several of Warhol's works, along with objects by other artists who have worked in his wake. The aim is not only to show direct influence, but also to indicate how an artist may have developed Warhol's example into new areas and accomplishments. Accompanied by a catalogue.

Strelka Institute will host, in its courtyard, a Strelka Media Evenings public talk of Interview Russia’s editor-in-chief Aliona Doletskaya and Christopher Makos. The theme of the talk is,Andy Warhol and Interview Magazine. Philosophy of Its Creation.

Christopher Makos was the personal photographer of Andy Warhol from 1983 until the artist’s death, the one who took the famous portraits of Warhol in drag. Warhol used to describe Makos as “the most modern photographer in the United States.”

Immediately after the public talk, the guests will be in for another treat – an after-party with a live performance by James Ferraro, one of the inventors of and key figures in hypnagogic pop, and a DJ set by US electronic music performer Teams.

Ferraro, as a true mad genius, has released around 30 albums in the past six years under his own name alone, as well as about another dozen under aliases like 90210 and DemonChannels.

The Hilton Brothers New York premiere of new works from "Tyrants + Lederhosen" (pub. date Oct. 2011) at the Christopher Henry Gallery.

Voted one of "10 of the Best Galleries in Manhattan" by the Guardian, London, the Christopher Henry Gallery harkens back to old New York art culture, nurturing new ideas and fresh talent in their renovated church in Nolita.

Thursday, 9 February 2012 TIME: 6:00PM to 9:00PM

After 8 years in the making, the first full revolution of work from the duo will be seen in their new book "Tyrants + Lederhosen", coming out October 2011. Their first Opus of over 350 pages, covering their complete editioned works as well as new works from the duo.

The premiere of Tryants + Lederhosen will be at the Catherine Houard Gallery, Paris, a gallery known for their strong point of view with her selection of trailblazing artists.

The Hilton Brothers show will be during Paris Photo 2011, premiering Thursday, 3 November, 2011 through 21 January 2012. address: 15 rue Saint Benoit

THE HILTON BROTHERS: Tyrants and Lederhosen

Photographer's Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg (a.k.a. the Hilton Brothers) break new ground with this modern take on the photo travelogue. After 7 years traveling the globe as non-traditional 'photo-anthropologists', the duo captures a raw candor with their pictures, void of restraint and self-consciousness.

New Box Set, 15 MINUTES: HOMAGE TO ANDY WARHOL, Showcases 18 Artists Whom Either Knew or Worked With Andy Warhol, or Have Been Influenced by Him

Bob Dylan And Patti Smith Headline Artist Contributors, Including Yura Adams, Connie Beckley, Brigid Berlin, Susan Breen, Nat Finkelstein, Vincent Fremont, John Giorno, Jeff Gordon, Alexander Heinrici, Ivan Karp, Christopher Makos, Billy Name, Carter Ratcliff, Path Soong, Ultra Violet, and Lawrence Weiner

During this year's Amory show in New York, we were lucky enough to meet Luba, our new Ukrainian Friend, through our Brazilian art gallery Baro, Thanks to Maria Baro.

The Lady Warhol show opened on December 9, 2010 and will be closing on March 20, 2011. The opening was attended by over 1400 people from Stockholm, and is brilliantly installed by Jan Bowman. I stongly suggest you visit this amazing space in Stockholm, and not only visit my exhibition, but also the beautifully curated Fashion exhibition on the 2nd floor. USA born Michelle Marie Roy curated the Lady Warhol exhibition, and I must say, I have never seen these images look so new and fresh. She also brought life to the Fashion show on the 2nd floor.

Fotografiska will be the first to exhibit Lady Warhol by Christopher Makos. Eight wigs, two days work, sixteen contact sheets, and fifty photographs comprise this unique series of portraits that depict Andy Warhol's transformation to his alter ego Lady Warhol. Makos' series at Fotografiska marks the first time the photographs have been shown together as a solo exhibition.

The Lady Warhol project is the result of two friends' intense collaboration over a 48-hour period in 1981. Warhol was the model and Makos the photographer. Christopher Makos, during this time, was inspired by Dadaism and Man Ray's series of photographs of Marcel Duchamp wearing a dress under the name Rrose Sélavy.

Lady Warhol is Makos' interpretation of Man Ray's collaboration with Duchamp. While Man Ray's images were a play on, Duchamp's character, Sélavy's mysterious persona, Makos, in his depiction, sought to instead exaggerate Warhol's pale fragility. Fifty of the three-hundred forty nine portraits make up the core of the series that portrays a pallid Warhol in a shirt and tie against a white wall. Via wigs, hard make-up, and poses, we witness how Warhol transforms himself into his alter ego Lady Warhol.

"Andy and I were relaxed enough to let his grace and his awkwardness show. I see in these images openness and vulnerability and Andy's need to express himself. These were parts of Andy that he rarely exposed in public, but I remember them well." -Christopher Makos

Christopher Makos was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, grew up in California, and moved to New York after high school. He studied architecture in Paris and briefly worked as an apprentice to Man Ray. Andy Warhol, Makos' good friend and frequent portrait subject, called Makos "the most modern photographer in America." They traveled together extensively and completed several projects together. For example, Makos was the art director for Warhol's first book entitled Exposures.

Christopher Makos' photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Tate Modern in London, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the IVAM in Valencia (Spain) and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. His pictures have appeared in magazines and newspapers, including Paris Match andThe Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several important books, like the volumes Warhol/Makos In Context (2007), Andy Warhol China 1982 (2007) and Christopher Makos Polaroids (2009).

Lady Warhol is an exhibition organised by La Fábrica in Madrid.

webcam: http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/gondolen/webkamera_eriks_640_2.php

With Mr. Makos text, "WHY", in four Languages, Spanish, English, French, Italian

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Just in time for Christmas, Christopher Makos will be there signing his newest book, published by the incredible Spanish publisher La Fabrica, organized in Madrid, art directed in London, and distributed by D.A.P. in the United States.

With Mr. Makos text, "WHY", in four Languages, Spanish, English, French, Italian

Click here: Lady Warhol

Lady Warhol

El próximo miércoles 3 de noviembre te invitamos a la presentación en La Fábrica de Lady Warhol por Christopher Makos. Las fotografías más increíbles del mayor icono del arte del siglo XX en una inolvidable sesión que tuvo lugar en 1981.

Un libro de gran formato, lujosamente editado, que ya se ha presentado el mes pasado con gran éxito en Nueva York. Aprovecha esta oportunidad para conocer a un mito de la fotografía que inmortalizó a Andy Warhol mostrando su lado más femenino y, de paso, llevate tu ejemplar firmado.

También te presentaremos un estuche exclusivo de Lady Warhol con una fotografía original en una edición seriada de 50 copias.

Te esperamos el próximo miércoles a las 20:00 horas en la Librería de La Fábrica (Madrid).

VER EL INTERIOR DEL LIBRO CÓMPRALO AQUÍ

CHRISTOPHER MAKOS AND PAUL SOLBERG,

THE HILTON BROTHERS

Prologo Who am I? What is this "me"-ness that is me? What makes up my identity? Identity- I.D.- ID. Where do "I " end and "Not I" begin? How do we define "Also Known As", "Alias", "Identity Theft", "Mistaken Identity"? How do we understand these definitions: "Identify": to recognize, relate to; "Render": present or give to, draw, describe, cut or boil away fat, remove anonymously for questioning.

These are eternal and sometimes controversial words and questions we use to define selfhood and what it means to be human. Perhaps these words and questions have more urgency today, in a world shrunken by global high-speed travel and information flow. Language, culture and race seem more important even as they become less distinct.

It is this cultural fluidity that upsets and eventually radicalizes the most religiously conservative parts of society. The unease felt in this cultural vacuum is turned into fervor which often expresses itself, (with helpful guidance from "leaders") as xenophobic radicalism and hatred of the new and different. Those of more moderate temperament are left with a bewildering array of choices. Traditionally liberal societies are faced with new threats to established principles of law and order, sometimes forsaking those very principles with actions committed in the name of self-defense.

In the 21^st Century more than any time before, and in more places around the world, one can find the tools readily at hand to create oneself in almost any image one chooses. The fortunate "haves" of the first world (and, increasingly, the former second and third worlds) share common points of reference drawn from electronic media that make their likes and dislikes, wants and aspirations increasingly indistinguishable. Yet the stark reality remains that great disparities of wealth, (brought into sharp focus by the proximity, both really and virtually, of haves and have-nots), continue today much as they did in ancient Rome. The ensuing unease and unrest found on the fringes of multi-nationalism have been captured and vividly realized by recent films set in contemporary Rio de Janeiro and Mumbai.

Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg are photographers who share an interest in travel to places where 21^st Century people mix ancient culture with the remains of 20^th Century revolutionary and totalitarian movements. Their collaborative work as The Hilton Brothers can be seen as documentation of and comment on this ad-hoc approach that is emerging as one response to contemporary life.

Photography is an act of isolation by its very mechanics. Artist and subject are separated by focal distance and the camera itself. The congress between artist and subject is one controlled by remote control in the shooting and even more so in the subsequent processing of the image. Yet in this digital age, under constant surveillance from the camera on the corner lamppost to the loftiest satellites to the imaging capabilities of our personal communication devices, our ease with photographing and being photographed has increased dramatically. With digital cameras that create files rather than film, the photographer can immediately begin the process of manipulation of his subject matter the moment the shutter closes and the image reappears as pixels on a monitor. The juxtaposition of images, the manipulation through developing prints in the dark room that once were cumbersome and time-consuming can now be accomplished quickly, with myriad variations made possible by the storage and retrieval systems of the contemporary personal computer and the programs that manipulate all visual aspects of the image itself.

As "The Hilton Brothers", Makos and Solberg create collaborative work that comments on this technology by their facile use of it, just as in public they enjoy wearing matching outfits, finishing each other's sentences, and singing in unison. The Hilton Brothers use contemporary technology to absorb their individual viewpoints and esthetics. They respond together to the diverse images they draw from their material and collaborate to make works of conversation and dialogue between those diverse images and sensibilities. In the process a new, shared vision takes shape.

This exhibition is an exploration of Makos and Solberg, at first seen individually, and then progressively as their identities mesh in a unique conversation about the technical possibilities of contemporary photography, and the

idea of identity as subject matter. The works exhibited here are intended to provide an overview that hopefully serves the viewer as a window on The Hilton Brother's slightly jarring, ever elegant visual response to the great, instant, challenging and complex world of the 21^st Century.

Exhibition in a Box, Curated by Virginia Robinson, from the series "Andydandy", the box opens for the first time in South America, Continuing it journey from New York, Then to Beijing and now at the SUBTE Museum in Montevideo, Uruguay, Let's cut the ribbon.

Clic Gallery and Christiane Celle are proud to present the US debut of the HILTON BROTHERS' acclaimed exhibition ANDY DANDY. The show will run from September 9 to October 3, 2010 at Clic Gallery, 255 Centre Street in Soho, New York. There will be an exclusive opening reception on Tuesday, September 14, from 6 to 8 pm in the evening. The reception will also be the official launch of the book LADY WARHOL, published by La Fabrica Madrid .

THE HILTON BROTHERS are longtime friends and collaborators CHRISTOPHER MAKOS and PAUL SOLBERG. CHRISTOPHER MAKOS trained under Man Ray in Italy, and his photographs have been published in Interview, Rolling Stone, Esquire and New York Magazine, among others. Makos was a close friend and frequent collaborator with Andy Warhol and is the author of the photobooks WARHOL/MAKOS IN CONTEXT, ANDY IN CHINA, EXHIBITIONISM and CHRISTOPHER MAKOS POLAROIDS ,with text by Calvin Klein. PAUL SOLBERG, called "the most modern photographer in America" by Makos, is the author of BLOOM and MISTAKEN IDENTITY. ANDY DANDY is an unusual art project, combining two series taken years apart: Makos's stark black and white portraits of Andy Warhol exploring his sense of gender self-image, and Solberg's BLOOM series, which are crisp, mesmerizing still lives of flowers. Each Warhol is matched with a flower shot, and the resulting diptychs are witty and unexpected, offering a fresh, surprising look at one of the icons of modern art. An art marriage: Warhol vamps for the camera in a Veronica Lake wig and full makeup as a film noir femme fatale, paired next to an eerily bright photo of a flower in full blossom. ANDY DANDY was previously exhibited at Caxa Madrid's Casa Encendida Foundation, Madrid, the Sebastian Guinness Gallery in Dublin, Ireland, and the Espace Cultural Ample in Barcelona, Spain. This is the US gallery debut.

For print sales, contact the gallery at centre@clicgallery.com

For press inquiries, contact Angharad Coates at acoates@clicgallery.com

Clic Gallery East Hampton is proud to present the summer show CHRISTOPHER MAKOS POLAROIDS. The show will run from August 3rd until September 6th, 2010 at Clic's East Hampton location on Newtown Lane.

There will be an opening reception on Sunday, August 7th from 6 to 8 pm. Makos will be at the opening reception to sign copies of the accompanying photobook, CHRISTOPHER MAKOS POLAROIDS (published by Photology), which features an introduction by Calvin Klein.

CHRISTOPHER MAKOS was a seminal figure in the 1980s New York art scene, and his photographs have been published in Interview, Rolling Stone, Esquire and New York Magazine. Makos was a close friend and frequent collaborator of ANDY WARHOL, and is the author of WARHOL/MAKOS IN CONTEXT, ANDY IN CHINA, and the upcoming LADY WARHOL.

The Clic exhibit is a series of vintage 24 SX-70 Polaroids snapped by Makos in the late 70s to the early 80s. The beautiful, dreamy, colorful shots--of friends and lovers, of interesting still lives, and even celebrities like Debbie Harry, John Kennedy, Jr. and Warhol himself-- are the perfect reminder of the recklessly happy spirit of the time. In his introduction to the book, CALVIN KLEIN writes "What I love about Christopher's Polaroid's is that they're a potent relic of a very specific era...what a time of incredible energy and excess! People were out all night, Studio 54 was packed, New York was where it was all happening and going out was frenetic, exciting and very, very fun. In many ways, although this may seem like a contradiction, it was also a time of greater innocence, and that's what these pictures capture."

For print sales, contact the gallery at easthampton@clicgallery.com

For press inquiries, contact Angharad Coates at acoates@clicgallery.com

"The final goal of all artistic activity is architecture." Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus school

Almost 100 years later, Bauhaus is the Rosetta Stone of Modernity, a movement that dismantled the old fashioned idea of Art, Architecture, and Craft as separate hierarchical entities.

The members of the movement seemed to judge on the merits of whether something was successful or not, rather than its "category". Architecture can be art and art can be architecture.

It is a movement that is still as relevant today as it was almost 100 years ago, as we see successful and unsuccessful interpretations of the Bauhaus idea in most every contemporary design, whether it be "12 mugs for a dollar" at Wal-Mart or 'The Egg' Opera House in Beijing; Bauhaus ideas are everywhere.

We consider the architecture of satin fabric and the artistic details of an engine. A simple pole covered in a blanket of luxurious emerald moss. Is the poll the architecture, or is the moss where the architectural idea resides?

The architecture of a cactus, a tree, a cloud. The geometry of the human face, whether it be flesh or stone. The perfection of the Pyramids.

In this Bauhaus exercise, we combine images to find new relationships between shapes and tones, in an attempt to further question our expectations of the photograph.

- Paul Solberg, April 2010

The first exhibition of Nicola Erni Collection, Not a Vernisssage, more of an, "evening with friends".

Delicious Food at 2181 meters and the work of photographer Ron Galella who will introduce us to the atmosphere and the stars of the 60's abd 70's

Anja and Hans-Jurg Zingg inspired Erni to show a selection of the photo collection at El Paradisio during the winter season 2009/2010. During this evening, we will get to know a part of Ron Galella-The Pope Of Paparazzi.