Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti on show in New York

On the face of it, it’s an unlikely combination – conceptual artist John Baldessari, and fashion and portrait photographer Mario Sorrenti. But their work first came together back in 2007 in the art issue of W magazine, and it’s now paired up again in the playfully titled Noses Elbows and Knees, on show in New York’s Half Gallery until 20 January. The exhibition has been curated by Neville Wakefield, a fine art, culture and photography writer who has also worked as a senior curatorial advisor for PS1 MoMA, curator of Frieze Projects at the Frieze Art Fair, and co-creative director of Tar Magazine.

“Both artist and photographer sought to excavate the familiar – the one by stripping it of clothes, the other of features,” states Wakefield. “So when in 2007…the opportunity for collaboration presented itself, connecting the two made both conceptual as well as artistic sense. Here, a long courtship of art and fashion could at last become a marriage, a true hybrid of crafted imagery and deconstructed purpose.”

Mario Sorrenti & John Baldessari – Noses Elbows and Knees, a project curated by Neville Wakefield, is on show until 20 January at Half Gallery, New York https://halfgallery.com/

From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
From Noses Elbows and Knees by John Baldessari and Mario Sorrenti
Diane Smyth

Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy