RALPH GIBSON

Ralph Gibson is an American photographer best known for his fine-art images that explore the surreal visual nature of the subconscious. Utilizing visual fragments that resemble the way we see in dreams, Gibson’s images are mysterious and symbolic.

He was born in Hollywood, California in 1939.  His father was an assistant director to Alfred Hitchcock and as a young boy he would visit the set during filming. He was impressed by the power of the camera lens and the intensity of the lights; this set him on the path to his later work in photography.

Gibson is equally renowned for his contributions to the evolution of photographic book publication, in fact, one might say that he revolutionized it. His deep concern with how a sequence of photographs can become a new and more meaningful unit in book form was evident in his first book The Somnambulist, with its carefully developed page transitions and meaningful sequencing. 

Gibson’s role in photographic fine art image making and book publication cannot be overestimated.  In addition to publications and exhibitions, he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts; he has been awarded the Leica Medal of Excellence and is a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.  In 2018 he was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the president of France.

EXHIBITIONS AT THE GALLERY

EXHIBITIONS

2023
”A Black and White Journey”, Bigaignon, Paris
”The Dialectic of the Shadow”, Bigaignon, Paris
”Chair de temps”, Bigaignon, Paris
”Secret of Light”, Deichtorhallen, Hambourg
”Kunstfoyer”, Munich
”Sacred Land”, Gibson-Goeun Museum, Busan
PARIS PHOTO, Galleria Paci

2022
PARIS PHOTO, Galerie Bigaignon, Paris
Salon Littéraire, Goeun Museum, Busan
The Black Trilogy, Gibson-Goeun Museum, Busan

2021
PARIS PHOTO, Galerie Bigaignon
Leica Gallery, Beverly Hills

2020
”The Somnambulist 50th Anniversary”, Galerie Thierry Bigaignon, Paris
Leica Gallery Boston

2019
Photo London Somert House, London
Leica Gallery Mayfair, London
Leica Gallery Beverly Hill, Los Angeles
Tuscon Museum of Art, Arizona
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY
Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, Portland

2018
”Vu, Imprévu”, Galerie Thierry Bigaignon, Paris
Leica Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
PARIS PHOTO, Galerie Paci, Paris
Leica Gallery, Salzburg, Austria
Galerie Ov, Bruxelles, Belgium

2017
Le Pavillon Populaire, Montpellier, France
Trilogy, 1970-1974

2016
Palm Springs Museum of Art, Ca.
”Vertical Horizon”, Galerie Thierry Bigaignon, Paris
”Political Abstraction”, Nordic Light Festival, Kristensund, Norway
”L’HISTOIRE DE FRANCE”, Paris Photo, Hotel Scribe, Paris
Palm Springs Art Festival, Terry Etherton Gallery
Leica Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

2015
Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Paris Photo L.A., Terry Etherton Gallery.
Leica Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
RMA Institute, Bangkok Photo Festival, Thailand
MONO Leitz Park, Wetzlar, Germany
”Political Abstraction”, Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ
”Political Abstraction”, Leica Gallery, Sao Paulo

2014
Goeun Museum, Busan, Korea
Wuyue Art Gallery, 798, Beijing
Leica Gallery, Hollywood, Calif.
Paci Contemporary, Brescia, Italy
Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montreal, Canada

2013
Kahmann Gallery, Amsterdam
”The Museum of Image and Sound”, Sao Paulo, Brazil
China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
Gold Street Studios, Victoria, Australia

2012
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Gallery 916, Tokyo, Japan
Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Les Murs (The Old City Walls), Toulouse, France

2011
Palm Beach Photographic Center Museum, Florida
Spectrum Gallery, Rochester, NY
The Leica Gallery, Paris

2010
Leica Gallery, Solms, Germany
Red Shirley Screening at the Marfa Film Festival, TX
Ross Art Museum, Ohio Wesleyan University
Photo4, Paris, France
Gallery SEE+, Beijing

2009
Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Arca Arte, Vercelli, Italia
Photo 4, Paris
Fahey / Klein Gallery, Hollywood

2008
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
The Fototeca in Havana, Cuba
The Moscow Biennale of Photography, Russia

2007
The Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin
Center for Creative Photograhy, Tucson, AZ

2006
Soka Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Gallerie LWS, Paris
92nd Street YMCA, New York City
Theatre de la Photographie, Nice, France

2005
Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
Sun Art Center, Seoul, Korea
University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY

2004
The Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, Florida
The Hermes Store Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
The Hermes Store Gallery, New York City, NY
The Ross Museum, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH

2003
Moscow House of Photography, Russia
The Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2002
Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
The Benham Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Galerie Aittuares, Paris, France
Galerie Lucie Weil Seligman, Paris, France

2001
Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson
Bjorn Wetterling, Stockholm, Sweeden

2000
Kerava Art Museum, Kereva,Finland
Galerie Lucie Weil Seligman, Paris, France
Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, England
Galerie Bodo Neimann, Berlin, Germany
Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italy
Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, England
Casino Bellevue, Biarritz, France

AWARDS

2018 Decorated Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
2016 Photographer of the Year, Palm Springs Fine Art Fair
​2015 Guild Hall Academy of the Arts Lifetime Award
American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Award
2011 FOTOmentor Lifetime Award, Palm Beach Photographic Center
2007 The Lucie Award
2002 Appointed, Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France
1999 Silver Plum Design Trust for Public Space
1997 Doctor of Fine Arts, Ohio Wesleyan University
1994 Grand Medal of the City of Arles, France
1991 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, University of Maryland
1989 Eastman Kodak Grant to photography, "L'Histoire de France "
"150 Years of Photography" Award, Photographic Society of Japan
1988 Leica Medal of Excellence Award
1986 Decorated, Officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1985 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship
1977 D.A.A.D West Berlin, Germany
C.A.P.S., New York State Council of the Arts Fellowship
1975 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1973 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship

selected artworks

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