Govinda Gallery » The Back Room

Mick Rock first exhibited his photographs at Govinda Gallery in June of 2002 in his extraordinary show Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust and Other Photographs. His work is featured in the upcoming museum exhibition Sound and Vision: Monumental Rock Photography, at the Columbus Museum of Fine Art in Columbus, Georgia beginning December 10th.

Here is the cover of The Saatchi Gallery Magazine for you to enjoy:
The Saatchi Gallery Magazine, Art & Music, Issue 13, Spring 2011.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/07/mick-rockthe-saatchi-gallery-london/feed/ 1 Remembering Bob Marley http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/05/remembering-bob-marley/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/05/remembering-bob-marley/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 15:23:05 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=5160

“Maddah, don’ cry. I’ll be alright. I’m gwan ta prepare a place.”
– Bob Marey, speaking to his Mother before his death.

Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley Photographs by David Burnett

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/05/remembering-bob-marley/feed/ 1 JFK’S 50TH Inaugural Anniversary Remembered http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/02/jfks-50th-inaugural-anniversary-remembered/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/02/jfks-50th-inaugural-anniversary-remembered/#comments Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:28:26 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=4465 There have been many stories in the media commemorating the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration as President. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. organized a series of events in honor of the occasion. Here at Govinda Gallery we have presented four exhibitions featuring extraordinary photographs of the charismatic 34th President. Most notable was our exhibition in 1998, JFK Remembered, featuring Jaques Lowe’s legendary photographs of President Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Jacques attended the opening of his exhibition here and so did Kennedy’s press secretary Pierre Salinger who recorded the Govinda Gallery answering machine message for that exhibition in his classic style and voice. It is not widely known that Jacques Lowe’s negatives of the Kennedy family, a national treasure, were destroyed in a bank vault at the World Trade Center during 9/11.

In 1993 Govinda hosted the first exhibition of Phil Stern’s photographs. Stern was hired by Frank Sinatra to document the inaugural entertainment and after party. Sinatra organized the entertainment at the inauguration for President Kennedy. In 2008 photographer Henry Grossman had a wonderful exhibition at Govinda which included a number of his extraordinary photographs of the President.

President and Mrs. Kennedy resided just one black from Govinda Gallery on N Street in Georgetown. The Kennedys were in fact living at their home in Georgetown up to the morning of his inauguration. We post these photos by Jacques Lowe, Phil Stern, and Henry Grossman along with some other material from the Govinda Gallery archive including the Washington Post’s story from November 1993 about Stern’s Govinda exhibition, in memory of and with affection for John F. Kennedy.

The Govinda Gallery invitation to Jacques Lowe’s 1998 exhibition JFK Remembered.

The Washington Post Magazine , J Street that was then, this is now section, November 21, 1993

Frankie and Johnny
by Laura Goldstein

When it was announced, one day in the fall of 1960, that Frank Sinatra would produce the inaugural gala for newly elected President John F. Kennedy, photographer Phil Stern was on assignment in Hollywood, shooting stills for a Sinatra movie called “The Devil at 4 O’Clock.” Stern promptly stole into the actor’s dressing room and ledt a note on a three-by-five index card on the table.

“Dear Frank,” he wrote. “Read the news today. I here-by apply for the job of resident paparazzo on your inaugural project.” Then he drew three boxes for Sinatra to check one. The first said, “Hell, yes”; the second, “I’ll think about it”; and the third, an unprintable version of “Get Lost.”

Stern never got the card back, but a few weeks later, Sinatra told him to pack his suitcase. They were going to the capital.

The mutual attraction between Hollywood and Washington was nothing new even then. Ronald Reagan was still a B-grade leading man, and Barbara Streisand had yet to spend a night in the White House, but politicians had been cozying up to celebrities at least since the 1920′s, when Al Jolson sang campaign songs for Warren Harding.

Still, the mix has seldom been as heady as it was on January 20, 1961, at the private, post-inauguration party hosted by Sinatra in the Latin American Room of what is now the Washington Hilton. Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly, Bette Davis, Tony Curtis, Leonard Bernstein, Nat King Cole- the leading light of the entertainment world had come to pay their respects to the new president.

Though the Kennedy fairy tale came to an abrupt end 30 years ago tomorrow, Stern caught its glittering beginnings on film. Some of the photographs from that evening will be seen for the first time when a retrospective of Stern’s work opens at Georgetown’s Govinda Gallery on December 9.

Of the picture shown here, of Kennedy and Gloria Cahn, wife of lyricist Sammy Cahn, Stern says, “The Latin America Room was lit entirely by candlelight. Sinatra asked be not to use flashes.” The low light made it difficult to get a sharp photograph, but Stern didn’t care. Now 74, the photographer says that just being present was a one-in-a-lifetime experience.

“All of a sudden a beautiful explosion takes place,” he says, “and you’re catapulted into a fantasy position.”

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2011/02/jfks-50th-inaugural-anniversary-remembered/feed/ 2 Buzz Aldrin, Andy Warhol, and the Moonwalk http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/07/buzz-aldrin-andy-warhol-and-the-moonwalk/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/07/buzz-aldrin-andy-warhol-and-the-moonwalk/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:07:07 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=1279 Buzz Aldrin has been in the news a lot lately, on Dancing with The Stars, as well as the recent anniversary of the first lunar landing. Govinda Gallery is very fortunate to count Buzz and his beautiful wife Lois as friends.

I first met Buzz with photographer Chris Makos in Houston at a concert/fundraiser for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education being established to honor the space shuttle Challenger, which “exploded before the eyes of our nation” on January 28th, 1986. Carolyn Farb, another great friend of Govinda Gallery, organized the fundraiser. Govinda Gallery assisted Carolyn in arranging for the use of Warhol’s Moonwalk image for the Gala Benefit Concert.

Inside of the program for Challenger Center Benefit Concert, March 31st, 1988.

Left to right: Chris Murray, Christopher Makos, Buzz Aldrin and Lois Aldrin at benefit concert.

Note from Chris Makos to Chris Murray.

Govinda featured Andy Warhol’s Moonwalk print at our exhibition The Last Prints: Silkscreens, February 11th through March 12th, 1988. We have reproduced here the invitation to that exhibit and some other interesting material from the Govinda Archives.

Monday, August 1, 1988
Arts Beat

Warhol & The Man on The Moon

By Kara Swisher
Special to the Washington Post

“When you’re the second man on the moon, you might not expect to be as remembered as the first, but former astronaut Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., part of the crew on the 1969 Apollo XI flight, has been memorialized by a star.

Aldrin, who followed Neil Armstrong down the ladder on the first lunar landing, was in town last week to receive a gift copy of the print “Moonwalk,” by artist Andy Warhol, from Govinda Gallery. The work, one of the last prints made by Warhol before his death last year and the first of a planned Warhol series on great moments in television, depicts Aldrin standing on the moon with an American flag. There are 160 “Moonwalk” prints, in magenta and yellow, costing $10,500 each.

Govinda owner Chris Murray met Aldrin in Houston at a benefit for the planned Challenger education center. “I knew who he was, and asked him to fill me in [on the ‘Moonwalk’ scene],” says Murray. “Well, I was surprised when we said, ‘Well, first of all, that’s me.’
So Murray arranged to get a print for Aldrin. Upon receiving the piece, Aldrin thanked him and said, “I’m sure Andy is looking down on us right now.”

The Govinda Gallery invitation to Andy Warhol’s exhibition The Last Prints: Silkscreens.

Govinda Gallery owner and director Chris Murray presenting Buzz Aldrin with Warhol’s silkscreen print Moonwalk, depicting Aldrin on the moon. Copyright © Chester Simpson. All Rights Reserved.

Invitation for dedication of Buzz Aldrin Elementary School, Reston, Virginia, April 25th, 1995.

Buzz Aldrin’s inscription to Chris on his book Encounter with Tiber, 1996.

Buzz and wife Lois’ card sent to Govinda Gallery owner and director Chris Murray, celebrating the Silver 25th Anniversary of the first lunar landing, 1994.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/07/buzz-aldrin-andy-warhol-and-the-moonwalk/feed/ 3 Andy Warhol’s “Ads” Exhibition Anniversary http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/06/andy-warhols-ads-exhibition-anniversary/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/06/andy-warhols-ads-exhibition-anniversary/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:53:31 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=1347 It was twenty-five years ago on May 23rd, 1985 that Govinda Gallery launched Andy Warhol’s latest series of silkscreens titled “Ads,” one of four exhibitions Govinda Gallery was proud to present of Warhol’s silkscreen works. Washington Post art critic Jo Ann Lewis wrote a review of the exhibition on May 25th, 1985. That review and the original invitation for the exhibition are reproduced here. In her review, Lewis wrote “…one of Warhol’s best and most approachable shows in recent years.”

“Andy Warhol is an expert on fabricated myths. In fact, he is one. As a commercial artist in his early years, he designed advertising campaigns not only for I. Miller shoes and NBC, but for on of the most saleable items in mid-20th-century America: himself. “Ads,” his new portfolio of 10 silkscreen prints at Govinda Gallery in Georgetown, marks a return to this world, which he so fondly understands.

Warhol-now appearing in the TV Coke commercials-has taken as his subject matter magazine advertisements from the 50′s: Ronald Reagan touting Van Heusen’s “won’t wrinkle ever!” drip-dry shirts; Judy Garland wearing a “what becomes a legend most” Blackglama mink coat; Mobil’s now grounded flying red horse.

It is a show that’s easy to like, thanks in a large part to Warhol himself. For years, he’s been rubbing our noses in popular culture, forcing us to look hard at images we’d become inured to, from Campbell’s soup cans to electric chairs. Because he’s been so noncommittal as to the point of these provocative images, people have been forced to think for themselves and extrapolate meanings. In the process (and with the help of many other Pop artists) we’ve become more visually aware-and skeptical-about commercial attempts to seduce us with fabricated myths.

There is inevitably an element of nostalgia in these ads for products and movies from the past, such as the deliciously colored, five-cent Life Savers as that reads “please do not lick this page!” But there is irony as well as poignancy in the Warholized figure of James Dean in a blood-red poster advertising “Rebel Without a Cause”- in Japanese; and the legendary Judy Garland, appropriately rendered in black-and-blue as she models mink.

The most uncannily timely as is that of the “won’t wrinkle ever!” Ronald Reagan in a drip-dry Van Heusen shirt, with the line at the bottom crediting his then-latest film: “Law and Order.” The image has been tipped slightly to give the appearance of a movie freeze-frame-something that did not happen in the original ad. Warhol reveals his wit and sense of irony in the way he has altered this and other images, though ever so slightly. In all of them, he caresses the image with his nervous line-a classic part of the Warholizing process.

Also on view is another new Warhol series: four silkscreen variations on Cologne cathedral, with diamond dust adding glitter. They were published in Germany in an edition of 60. The black-on-black is perhaps the most haunting, given the dark history of the cathedral during World War II.

The “Ads” portfolio, printed in an edition of 190, was commissioned by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts. This print show-one of Warhol’s best and most approachable in recent years-will continue at Govinda, 1227 34th St. NW, through June 30. Hours are 11 till 4 Tuesdays through Saturdays.”

The Govinda Gallery invitation to Andy Warhol’s “Ads” exhibition, May 23 through June 30, 1985:

Copyright © Andy Warhol. All Rights Reserved.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/06/andy-warhols-ads-exhibition-anniversary/feed/ 0 Elvis at 21 Exhibition Travels to Boca Raton http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/04/elvis-at-21-exhibition-travels-to-boca-raton/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/04/elvis-at-21-exhibition-travels-to-boca-raton/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:46:13 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=1297

Copyright © Katie Dunham. All Rights Reserved.
Exhibition curator Chris Murray with Priscilla Presley at the Grammy Museum’s Elvis at 21 Exhibition.

The Elvis at 21 exhibition, organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and Govinda Gallery just opened this week at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. The exhibition continues through June 13th. Read this weeks review of the exhibition in the Sun-Sentinel here. The exhibition in Boca follows the extraordinary launch of the Elvis at 21 tour at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. There are so many highlights regarding the exhibition in Los Angeles, including the grand opening attended by photographer Alfred Wertheimer, Grammy Museum director Bob Santelli, Bill Paley of the Paley Cener, Kimberley “Boss” Papaterra of Carmine’s LA, and many others. Some of the luminaries who came to visit the exhibition during its run in Los Angeles, and who gave it rave reviews, were Ringo Starr, Donovan, and Yoko Ono, among others. For me, the personal highlight was the great pleasure of giving a tour of the Elvis at 21 exhibition to Priscilla Presley. Priscilla spent nearly an hour and a half enjoying Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs and reading the accompanying text. Priscilla had extraordinary insights into so many details of the photographs and pointed out to me things in the pictures that I had never noticed before. Priscilla is a great fan of Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs of Elvis, and she is one of the most beautiful, charming, and gracious women I have ever met in my life.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/04/elvis-at-21-exhibition-travels-to-boca-raton/feed/ 5 Major Exhibition of Donovan’s Sapphographs in Athens http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/04/major-exhibition-of-donovans-sapphographs-in-athens/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/04/major-exhibition-of-donovans-sapphographs-in-athens/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:57:48 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=1143

Copyright © Carlotta Hester. All Rights Reserved.
Donovan proofing his Sapphographs at his home in Ireland with curator Chris Murray.

Govinda Gallery is delighted to announce the upcoming exhibition Sapphographs by Donovan opening on June 1st at the Hellenic American Union in Athens, Greece. This exhibition is organized in collaboration with Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies and Govinda Gallery in Washington, D.C. The exhibition’s curator is Christopher Murray. An online catalogue is being published for the exhibition. The large format works on paper are being produced by master printers Adamson Atelier.

This exhibition will feature twelve monumental works on paper from the Sapphographs series, Donovan’s homage to the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho. Donovan cites Sappho as one of his great inspirations as a poet. Donovan recently said that he “wishes to encourage the youth of the world to compose poetry again.” He wants to “stand with the young Greek poets and be part of returning poetry to the popular culture where it belongs.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, the art team Revolver will unveil a multimedia installation as a tribute to Donovan’s Sapphographs. This installation will allow spectators to experience the Sapphographs in three dimensions.

This exhibition is the centerpiece of the SapphoFest program going on June 1st and 2nd in Athens at the Hellenic American Union and June 4th, 5th, and 6th in Nafplion at the Center for Hellenic Studies. A compelling series of lectures, poetry readings, movement, dance and theatrical performances will take place. A detailed schedule of events is forthcoming on our website.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/04/major-exhibition-of-donovans-sapphographs-in-athens/feed/ 2 Jim Marshall, Legendary Music Photographer, 1936-2010 http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/03/jim-marshall-legendary-music-photographer-1936-2010/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/03/jim-marshall-legendary-music-photographer-1936-2010/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:21:53 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=1149 Govinda Gallery commemorates the passing away of Jim Marshall on March 24th. Gallery director Chris Murray first met Jim Marshall over twenty years ago through Marshall’s studio assistant, photographer Chester Simpson. Govinda frequently exhibited Marshall’s photographs, beginning in July of 1993 in a show called The Jimi Hendrix Exhibition. In March of 2002, the gallery hosted a one-person exhibition of Marshall’s photographs that included extraordinary portraits of the Allman Brothers, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Carlos Santana, Sly Stone, Eric Burdon, Creedence Clearwater, The Beatles, Tim Hardin, Michael Bloomfield, and many more. The Washington Times wrote on March 21st, 2002 that “The self-styled outlaw photographer has captured everyone from Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash over a long storied career.”

Whenever Jim came to Washington, D.C. he would visit Govinda and hang out in the gallery’s back room. He attended the opening of his friend and fellow photographer Barry Feinstein’s exhibition at Govinda in November 2002. Marshall traveled from New York to Washington for that opening with photographer Danny Clinch, whose first exhibition was at Govinda in September of 2001. Danny was filming Jim for a documentary he is making on Jim Marshall.

Marshall’s portrait of Little Richard is included in the upcoming traveling exhibition Sound and Vision: Monumental Rock Photography being organized by the Columbus Museum of Fine Art and curated by Govinda Gallery director Chris Murray.

We will all miss Jim Marshall.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/03/jim-marshall-legendary-music-photographer-1936-2010/feed/ 1 Elvis at 21 Exhibition Tour Opens at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/02/elvis-at-21-exhibition-tour-opens-at-the-grammy-museum-in-los-angeles/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/02/elvis-at-21-exhibition-tour-opens-at-the-grammy-museum-in-los-angeles/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:50:08 +0000 Cary Scott http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=894 On January 8th, Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday, the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles launched the exhibition Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer. This extraordinary touring show was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service with Govinda Gallery in Washington, D.C. The exhibition was curated by Govinda Gallery director Chris Murray with Amy Henderson and E. Warren Perry, Jr. of the National Portrait Gallery. A critically acclaimed book, Elvis 1956 (Welcome Books) has been published in conjunction with the exhibition. Along with Wertheimer’s remarkable photographs, the book features essays by the exhibition’s curators. Alfred Wertheimer attended the exhibition launch and signed copies of Elvis 1956 as well as copies of his monumental publication Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis (Insight Editions). For more information about Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs, including Vanity Fair’s January 2010 feature story written by Bob Colacello, go to www.govindagallery.com.

Photo Copyright © Carlotta Hester. All Rights Reserved.
Alfred Wertheimer and friends at the Elvis at 21 exhibition. Left to Right: Jeff Greenfield (CBS Sunday Morning), Marna Schnabel, Alfred Wertheimer, Chris Murray (Govinda Gallery), Marquette Folley (Project Director, SITES), Anna Cohn (Director, SITES).

Bob Santelli and Libby O'Connell
Photo Copyright © Carlotta Hester. All Rights Reserved.
Grammy Museum Director Bob Santelli and The History Channel’s Libby O’Connell at the opening of Elvis at 21.

Nion McEvoy, Chris Murray, and Bob Santelli
Photo Copyright © Carlotta Hester. All Rights Reserved.
Nion McEvoy (Chronicle Books), Chris Murray, and Bob Santelli discussing Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs.

Chris Murray, Alfred Wertheimer, and Bob Santelli
Photo Copyright © Gary Leonard. All Rights Reserved.
After the exhibition launch, Bob Santelli moderated a discussion with photographer Alfred Wertheimer and curator Chris Murray at the beautiful Grammy Museum theater.

Chris Murray, Catherine Nation, and Carlotta Hester
Photo Copyright © Carlotta Hester. All Rights Reserved.
Catherine Nation (Bhavantu) with Chris Murray and artist Carlotta Hester at Alfred Wertheimer’s book signing.

Alfred Wertheimer with Carlotta Hester and Chris Murray on Venice Beach
Photo Copyright © Alex Chadwick. All Rights Reserved.
Alfred Wertheimer enjoying an afternoon at Venice Beach, California the day after the opening of his exhibition Elvis at 21. Left to Right: Carlotta Hester, Alfred Wertheimer, Chris Murray, and a Hare Krishna devotee.

]]> http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/02/elvis-at-21-exhibition-tour-opens-at-the-grammy-museum-in-los-angeles/feed/ 0 Naked Ambition Exhibition Opens During Record-Breaking Snowstorm at Govinda Gallery http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/01/naked-ambition-exhibition-opens-during-record-breaking-snowstorm-at-govinda-gallery/ http://www.govindagallery.com/2010/01/naked-ambition-exhibition-opens-during-record-breaking-snowstorm-at-govinda-gallery/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:34:17 +0000 Chris Murray http://www.govindagallery.com/?p=922 Christian Serratos Signing Her Naked Ambition Poster

Christian Serratos Signing Her Naked Ambition Poster

On December 19th, Govinda Gallery launched the exhibition Naked Ambition in association with PETA, celebrating over twenty years of the ‘I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur’ campaign. Co-hosting the opening was Twilight saga star Christian Serratos, who unveiled the latest image, featuring herself, at the exhibition opening. In this photograph, Serratos is inscribing the image to gallery director Chris Murray, who was also celebrating his birthday that same day.

Outside Govinda Gallery at PETA’s Naked Ambition exhibition launch. Left to Right: Michelle Cho, Chris Murray, Christian Serratos, Dan Matthews, and Jack Ryan.

Michelle Cho and Jack Ryan letting it all hang out for PETA outside Govinda Gallery with Twilight saga star Christian Serratos joining the fun. The largest storm ever recorded in December in Washington, D.C. did not deter the Naked Ambition enthusiasts. Check out the Washington Post and PETA’s blog for more on the event.

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