STEVE McCURRY <br /> UNTOLD STORY

The guided tours in English are taking place on July 28 and 29 at 5:00 pm. To participate you need to buy tickets to the museum and register for the event.

The Moscow Museum of Modern Art with the support of the State Hermitage Museum presents «Untold Story» — a solo exhibition of the world-famous photographer Steve McCurry. The project, which includes more than 80 works, is intended to reveal the author’s creative method and to acquaint the viewer with the process of McCurry’s work as a reporter. Along with photographs, the show includes fragments from McCurry’s notebooks, his travel itineraries and archive materials which have never been shown before. The BMW Group Russia is the general partner of the project.

Steve McCurry is an iconic figure in the world of modern photography both fine art and reportage. Speaking about himself, he avoids such definitions as «photojournalist» or «reporter» and prefers to call himself an «observer» or «storyteller». As the real world, his output includes a wide range of subjects from idyllic and contemplative portraits and landscapes to photographs of natural disasters and humanitarian catastrophes that provoke empathy.

One of McCurry’s traveling notebooks contains a concise formula for a successful shot: «You have to get into the water to make good pictures.» McCurry was the first to photograph the Afghan conflict, the coverage of which at that time was censored both in the USA and Soviet Union. Along with war series, McCurry’s output includes photographs produced during his trips to India, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka in which he captured the everyday life of locals and their cultural traditions. In both war reportages and photographs from trips, McCurry endeavours to capture the state of a person here and now and establish dialogue between the subject of a photograph and the viewer. His photographs need no explanation. Their stories are told outside of time and space, connecting different civilizations.
McCurry’s art occupies a place in the great tradition of the 20th century photography. His artistic language relies on a reportage approach imbued with the photographer’s empathy towards his subjects. In the course of time his photographs’ subjects become symbols of the epoch offering a unique cross-section of humanity. As a keen globetrotter, McCurry has captured a wide variety of urban and natural landscapes which speak of the rich diversity of our planet and the importance to preserve its cultural heritage. «My camera is my passport,» said McCurry; he takes it anywhere he goes.

McCurry’s principle of photographing his subjects in context, his endeavour to provide the viewer with a wider perspective on the world resonates with the museum’s mission which consists in acquainting viewers with something new at the same time preserving the already existing cultural heritage. Having conceived the exhibition last year, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art invited the State Hermitage Museum to collaborate on the project. In 2015 the exhibition «Unguarded Moment» curated by Dimitri Ozerkov, was successfully held in the Hermitage. Along with works from the Hermitage collection, the MMOMA’s exhibition will acquaint the viewer with archival materials from Steve McCurry’s studio. This project is the first full-fledged cooperation between the two institutions and is held in anticipation of the opening of the Hermitage —Moscow Center.

A catalogue is released to coincide with the exhibition. Along with McCurry’s photographs, it includes the photographer’s archival materials and an article by Dimitri Ozerkov in which he discusses McCurry’s artistic method and recounts interesting stories from the photographer’s life. The edition is available in the MMOMA bookstores on 25 Petrovka Street,10 Gogolevsky Boulevard, and in the MMOMA Educational Center on 17 Ermolaevsky Lane.

On July 4 a public talk with Steve McCurry and Dimitri Ozerkov will be held in the exhibition hall. To attend the public talk please register at the MMOMA website and buy an admission ticket.

As part of the exhibition, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the SimpleWine wine stores have launched a joint campaign «Wines from the Cover». Wine lovers are invited to submit artistic wine labels. The first thousand participants will receive a free admission to the exhibition and a limited edition bag.

BMW Group supports key art events in the world, including Art Basel in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong, Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters London, Frieze New York, Paris Photo, Paris Photo Los Angeles and TEFAF Maastricht. The company also collaborates with the Guggenheim Museum in New York on issues of contemporary urban life and holds long-term projects with Tate Modern in London and the National Gallery in Berlin. The BMW Group runs an opera festival «BMW Opera for All» — free open-air concerts with the stars of the world classical scene annually held in Munich, Berlin and London. Partnering with the BMW Group allows long-term cultural interaction. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities — as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

BMW is associated with art throughout the world thanks to its legendary collection of BMW Art Cars. In 1975, the French racecar driver and art lover Hervé Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the first BMW Art Car. Since Calder’s work of art, many other renowned artists have created BMW Art Cars, including Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Cesar Manrique. To date, a total of 17 BMW Art Cars have been created. On the occasion of the BMW Group 100th anniversary, Chinese artist Cao Fei and the famous American conceptualist John Baldessari have designed the 18th and 19th Art Cars.

The BMW Group supports key art events in the world, including Art Basel in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong, Frieze Art Fair and Frieze Masters London, Frieze New York, Paris Photo, Paris Photo Los Angeles and TEFAF Maastricht. The company collaborates with the Guggenheim Museum in New York on issues of contemporary urban life and holds long-term projects with Tate Modern in London and the National Gallery in Berlin. The BMW Group runs an opera festival «BMW Opera for All» — free open-air concerts with the stars of the world classical scene annually held in Munich, Berlin and London. In June 2018, «BMW Opera for All» was launched in Moscow. For almost 15 years now, the BMW Group has been supporting the Bolshoi Theater as well as various cultural initiatives in Russia. In 2017 together with Garage Museum of Contemporary Art the BMW Group launched the Art and Technology grant program.

Partnering with the BMW Group allows long-term cultural interaction. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities — as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.