The Hellenic American Union is delighted to announce the exhibition, Donovan: Sapphographs which opened on June 1st, 2010 at the Hellenic American Union galleries, in Athens Greece. This exhibition is organized in collaboration with Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies and Govinda Gallery in Washington D.C., curated by Govinda’s Christopher Murray. An online catalogue has been published for this Donovan’s first exhibition in Greece. Adamson Atelier, master printers, have produced the large format works on paper.

The exhibition features twelve monumental works on paper from the Sapphographs series. Inspired by the lyric poetry of Sappho (7th century B.C.), Donovan captures in visual form the mythic beauty of an ancient artistic tradition. 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.″

Exhibition curator Christopher Murray writes: “Donovan: Sapphographs evoke the aesthetic sensuality of nature and the power of its rituals to inspire artistic creation. Sappho has been represented and reinterpreted through many artistic mediums since her own time, over 2,500 years ago, up to today. Depicted by some of the greatest painters in museums through the world, in illuminated manuscripts, by playwrights, in novels, in fashion, in ballet, and in popular music, Sappho has been updated in different times in different ways.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, the California based art team Revolver is presenting a multimedia installation as a tribute to Donovan: Sapphographs. This installation will allow spectators to experience the Sapphographs in three dimensions.

A compelling series of poetry readings, music and dance performances, and symposiums entitled SapphoFest has been organized around Donovan’s exhibition.

Donovan has also composed the melody Be Mine for some of Sappho’s fragments which is available on Amazon as a download and a cd and will perform the song at the opening of the exhibition.

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Tour Dates and Locations »

• Jan 8 – Mar 28, 2010    The Grammy Museum :: Los Angeles, CA
• Apr 20 – Jun 20, 2010    Boca Raton Museum of Art :: Boca Raton, FL
• Jul 10 – Oct 10, 2010    Museum of the Shenandoah Valley :: Winchester, VA
• Oct 30, 2010 – Jan 23, 2011    National Portrait Gallery :: Washington, DC

Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs of Elvis Presley are a national treasure. They are a unique visual record of the most exciting and influential performer of our time. Taken 50 years ago, Wertheimer’s photographs document Elvis Presley at the pivotal moment of his explosive appearance onto the cultural landscape. After these photos were taken, no photographer ever again had access to Elvis that Wertheimer enjoyed. Apart from Elvis’s own recordings from this period, Wertheimer’s photographs are the most compelling vintage document of this musical artist in 1956.

Elvis at 21 features over forty of these stunning and intimate black and white photographs. This exhibition also celebrates the publication of Elvis 1956 (Welcome Books), with photographs and text by Alfred Wertheimer and edited by Chris Murray, owner and director of Govinda Gallery. Many previously unpublished photographs along with the author’s personal recollections document the young man who invented the rock and roll persona as we know it and would become an enduring international cultural icon.

Since 1995, Murray has presented Wertheimer’s work in several exhibitions, including his first major one-person exhibition in 1997 at Govinda Gallery and in the exhibition Artist to Icon: Early Photographs of Elvis, Dylan, and the Beatles organized in 2001 in conjunction with the Experience Music Project, Seattle.

Exhibit Photo Gallery. Click on an image to launch slideshow.

- John Lennon

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In honor of Bob Marley’s birthday on February 6th, Govinda Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition, Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley. Soul Rebel presents for the first time David Burnett’s extraordinary photographs of one of the most beloved and respected international musical artists of our time. On assignment for Time Magazine, Burnett first photographed Marley at his home in Jamaica in 1976 and continued to document Bob Marley and The Wailers on the Exodus tour in Europe while on their bus, in rehearsals, and during performances throughout Europe during the spring of 1977. Burnett’s award-winning talent, coupled with Marley’s larger-than-life charisma, resulted in this extraordinary collection of previously unseen photographs. Also included in the exhibition are compelling images of The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and more.

This exhibition celebrates the publication of Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley (Insight Editions, 2009). Featuring David Burnett’s photographs and stories, published for the first time, Soul Rebel is sure to be a treasured book for music lovers around the world. Soul Rebel features a foreword by acclaimed author Chris Salewicz, one of the leading writers on Jamaican music and culture, as well as an introduction by Soul Rebel’s editor, author and curator Chris Murray.

Exhibit Photo Gallery. Click on an image to launch slideshow.

David Burnett launched his photographic career as an intern at Time magazine in 1967. From 1970 to 1972, he covered the Vietnam War as a staff photographer for Life magazine. In 1975, he co-founded Contact Press Images in New York. Traveling to more than 75 countries, Burnett has produced photographic essays for Time, Life, Fortune, The New Yorker, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and many others. His awards include “Magazine Photographer of the year” from the Pictures of the Year Competition, the “World Press Photo of the Year,” and the Robert Capa Award from the Overseas Press Club, to name but a few.

Chris Salewicz has been writing on popular culture, particularly reggae and other world musics, for more than 20 years. He was a senior features writer for NME, has written for The Sunday Times, The Face, and Q magazine and wrote the authorized book Bob Marley: Songs of Freedom (with photographer Adrian Boot), and Rude Boy, a memoir about his relationship with the island of Jamaica, among many other books. Salewicz edited the booklet contained in the award-winning 4-CD box set Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music, and co-wrote the script for the 1999 movie Third World Cop, which broke Jamaican box office records.

Chris Murray is the founder and director of Govinda Gallery and has organized over two hundred fifty exhibitions of paintings, drawings, and photographs many of which have traveled throughout the United States and abroad, including countries such as Germany, Spain, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Mexico and Cuba. He has edited and authored over a dozen books and catalogues, including Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive (Avalon Publishing Group/Insight Editions, 2003), Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis (Insight Editions, 2006), Knockout: The Art of Boxing (Insight Editions, 2008), and John and Yoko: A New York Love Story (Insight Editions 2008).

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