ERWIN OLAF

Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf delivers a velvet-gloved emotional impactwith his highly stylized mode of image making. His work offers a blend ofmid-century modern and noir aesthetics seen through a contemporary,fashion-inflected lens. The ambience of the series presented in thisvolumethe first time these three bodies of work have been presented as awholeis truly enigmatic and enticing.Olaf seduces the viewer via amannered, restrained palette that is replete with faded avocado greens,golden-hued oranges, and subtle lilacs. Each richly colored and sleeklycomposed image offers a sly reinterpretation of Norman Rockwell-likeiconography and characters, manifesting a nostalgia that both burlesquesand wryly celebrates America of the 1950s and 60s. As a whole, thematerial investigates what critic Jonathan Turner defines as Olafs recentfascination with the visual representation of such emotions of loss,loneliness, and quiet despair...[He] plays games with the idea of coldreality versus cruel artifice, capturing that precise moment wheninnocence, hope, and joy are lost.