Yancey Richardson gallery in New York is currently presenting ‘Homage: Malkovich and the Masters’, which features photographer Sandro Miller’s images of the actor John Malkovich as other well-known figures.
At New York photography gallery Yancey Richardson, a very well-known Philippe Halsman portrait of Salvador Dalí looks a little off. While the late surrealist’s unmistakable moustache is in exactly the right place, it’s on the wrong face. It’s actor John Malkovich, actually, posing for commercial photographer Sandro Miller.
Until 1 July, Yancey Richardson presents ‘Homage: Malkovich and the Masters’, a sample of Malkovich and Miller’s 2014 collaboration that was recently published as the book The Malkovich Sessions, by Glitterati Incorporated. Together, they had recreated 41 of some of history’s most iconic portraits, including Halsman’s Dalí.
Rather than Miller simply superimposing Malkovich’s face directly into the photos, however, the actor fully assumed each role – makeup, wardrobe, posture, expression – for the camera: Bert Stern’s Marilyn Monroe, Annie Leibovitz’s naked John Lennon and Alberto Korda’s Che Guevara among them. For his part, Miller did his research over the course of a year, scrutinising each image’s lighting, composition and finish. His goal was to align his works with the originals in the minutest detail, with minimal digital intervention.
Malkovich has been Miller’s muse for decades. The two first met at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company in the late 1990s, and have embarked on numerous collaborations, including a Nikon ad and a handful of films.
‘I have done nudes of John. I have dressed John like Henry VII, I have dressed John like the devil. And I once suspended John from a cross,’ Miller told the Chicago Tribune when the series debuted in 2014. ‘And John's never said no.’
Pictured left: Bert Stern / Marilyn with Pink Roses (1962), 2014. Right: Pierre et Gilles / Jean Paul Gaultier (1990), 2014
The 2014 collaboration was recently published as a book, The Malkovich Sessions. Together, they recreated 41 of some of history’s most iconic portraits.
Pictured left: Alberto Korda / Che Guevara (1960), 2014. Right: Dorothea Lange / Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936), 2014
For his part, Miller did his research over the course of a year, scrutinising each image’s lighting, composition and finish. His goal was to align his works with the originals in the minutest detail, with minimal digital intervention.
Pictured left: Annie Leibovitz / John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1980), 2014. Right: Philippe Halsman / Salvador Dalí (1945), 2014
Malkovich has been Miller’s muse for decades. The two first met at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company in the late 1990s, and embarked on numerous collaborations, including a Nikon ad and a handful of films.
INFORMATION
’Homage: Malkovich and the Masters’ is on view until 1 July. For more details, visit Yancey Richardson’s website
Photography courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson gallery
ADDRESS
Yancey Richardson Gallery
525 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports carECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
Casa Sanlorenzo debuts in Venice as a new hub for contemporary artThe luxury yachting leader unveils a stunning new space in a palazzo restored by Piero Lissoni – where art, innovation, and sustainability come together
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on lifeThanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being rebonr as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this weekThis week saw the Wallpaper* team jet-setting to Jordan and New York; those of us left in London had to make do with being transported via the power of music at rooftop bars, live sets and hologram performances
-
Photographer Geordie Wood takes a leap of faith with first film, DiversGeordie Wood delved into the world of professional diving in Fort Lauderdale for his first film
-
New book celebrates 100 years of New York City landmarks where LGBTQ+ history took placeMarc Zinaman’s ‘Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places’ is a vital tribute to queer culture
-
A major Takashi Murakami exhibition sees the world in kaleidoscopic colourThe Cleveland Art Museum presents 'Takashi Murakami 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow', exploring outrage and escapist fantasy
-
Ai Weiwei’s new public installation is coming soon to Four Freedoms State Park‘Camouflage’ by Ai Weiwei will launch the inaugural Art X Freedom project in September 2025, a new programme to investigate social justice and freedom
-
Leonard Baby's paintings reflect on his fundamentalist upbringing, a decade after he left the churchThe American artist considers depression and the suppressed queerness of his childhood in a series of intensely personal paintings, on show at Half Gallery, New York
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella ValleyWill Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
