Gérard Rancinan Explained
Gérard Rancinan is a French photographer known for his portrait photography that comments on social issues, politics, and pop culture.[1] His work has appeared in publications such as Sports Illustrated, Time, Life, The Sunday Times Magazine, and Paris Match.
Life and career
Gérard Rancinan began his career at age 15 as an apprentice in the photo lab of the Bordeaux daily newspaper Sud Ouest, where his father also worked and recognized his potential.[2] [3] After completing a three-year apprenticeship, he started covering local news at 18.[4] At 21, Rancinan was assigned to the paper's agency in Pau.
In 1973, Rancinan signed a distribution contract with the newly formed Sygma press agency. Five years later, he joined Sygma as a staff photographer in Paris, where he covered global events, including earthquakes in Algeria, political unrest in Poland and conflict in Lebanon. He also photographed major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, and worked on film sets for movies such as Ran by Akira Kurosawa, Betty Blue by Jean-Jacques Beineix, and The Last Emperor by Bernardo Bertolucci).
In 1986, Rancinan left Sygma to establish his own agency before returning to freelance work in 1989.
He became known for his portraits of prominent figures such as Fidel Castro, Pope John Paul II and Bill Gates. His work has graced the covers of magazines like Paris Match and Life. Since 1984, he has collaborated frequently with Sports Illustrated. Rancinan’s projects are often collaborative, involving writers, journalists, sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, including Caroline Gaudriault, Virginie Luc, Paul Virilio, and Francis Fukuyama.
Exhibitions and recognition
In the 1990s, Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr produced Rancinan's exhibition Urban Jungle at the Espace Cardin in Paris in 2000. His works have been exhibited in galleries and museums, such as Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (Portrait of Nathalie), the Triennale di Milano (Portraits of Cardinals), and the Palais de Tokyo Muséum in Paris (Metamorphoses and Trilogy of the Moderns).[5] His pieces are also part of private contemporary art collections.
In 2008, at an auction at Étude Million at Hôtel Drouot, Rancinan’s work sold alongside other renowned French contemporary photographers.[6] His photograph Batman Girls set a record price in London in May 2012 at the Philip de Pury auction house. His piece The Feast of the Barbarians was sold on 18 May 2014 by the Étude Pillon in Versailles at a record price for a living French photographer.[7]
Rancinan's photography is studied in French schools as part of the National Diploma (DNB) in the History of Art.
On 7 January 2013, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius invited Rancinan to exhibit his photograph Batman Boys at the Quai d'Orsay to promote contemporary French art abroad.
Prizes and awards
Most recent solo exhibitions
- June–July 2007: Trilogy of the Sacred Savage, Triennale Bovisa di Milano Museum, Italy
- September 2008: The Photographer, Museum Palazzo Roma, Italy
- October 2009: Metamorphoses, still lives and conversations, Galerie Brugier-Rigail, Paris
- November–December 2009: Métamorphoses, Palais de Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, Paris
- March–April 2011: Rancinan in Paris, Opera Gallery London-Paris
- September–October 2011 : Rancinan in London, Opera Gallery, London
- October–November 2011: Hypotheses, Chapelle Saint-Sauveur, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
- November–December 2011: Rancinan in Hong Kong, Opera Gallery Hong Kong
- April–May 2012: Trilogy of the Moderns, Triennale di Milano Museum, Italy
- May–June 2012: Wonderful World, The Future Tense, curated by Ed Barttlet, London
- September–October 2012: Wonderful World, Galerie Valérie Bach, Royal Icerink, Brussels, Belgium
- May–September 2013: Trilogy of the Moderns + Chaos, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
- October–November 2013 : The Feast of Barbarrian - Musée des arts et métiers- Paris
- February–April 2014 : "Motopoetique"-MAC-Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon-Collective Exhibition-curator Paul Ardenne
- April–June 2014 : "A Small Man in a Big World" - Avant Premiere - Galerie Valerie Bach - Brussels - Belgium
- June- September 2014 : " Tupi or not Tupi" - " Salomé Détail" - collective Exhibition - oscar Niemeyer Museum- Curitiba - Brazil
- June–September 2014 : " Festin de l'Art " - "The Big Supper" - collective Exhibition - Pinault collection - Dinard - France- curator Jean Jacques Aillagon
Films
- Sauvons l'amour, with Gabrielle Lazur, Fred Carol, François Siener. Original music by Charlélie Couture, 1986 (11 minutes. 40 seconds, 35 mm). Fiction/Short Film.
- Héritage - Voyage au Pays de l'Homme, TF1, 52 min, 1995. Documentary.
- Trilogy of the Moderns - Behind The Scenes, documentary, making of, on the work of Gérard Rancinan and Caroline Gaudriault, 52 min. Directed by Vincent Tavernier with commentaries by Paul Ardenne, art historian. French and English version, December 2012. Documentary.
Books
- Rois Sans Royaume, Éditions Nathan Image, 1986
- Urban Jungle, Éditions de La Martinière, 1999
- Rancinan Exploit, Edition Federico Motta, Milan, 2004
- La Trilogie du Sacré Sauvage, Edition Federico Motta, Milan, 2005
- The Photographer, Edition Abrams, New York, 2008
- Le Photographe, Éditions de La Martinière, 2008
- "Métamorphoses", conversations & natures mortes, Biro & Cohen éditeurs, 2009 (with the writer, Caroline Gaudriault)
- "Hypothèses", Éditions Paradoxe, 2011 (with the writer, Caroline Gaudriault)
- "Wonderful World", Éditions Paradoxe, 2012 (with the writer, Caroline Gaudriault)
- "A small man in a big world", Editions Paradoxe, 2014 - with the writer Caroline Gaudriault and Francis Fukuyama
Notes and References
- Web site: Gérard Rancinan - Biography, Shows, Articles & More . 2024-10-31 . Artsy . en.
- Web site: Morizot . Narie . November 11, 2016 . Gérard Rancinan, un oeil sur les soubresauts de l'humanité . Sud Ouest.
- Web site: Rebours . Lautent . April 4, 2021 . Gérard Rancinan, one of the most highly regarded photographers in the world, has found in Chartres a setting for his monumental works. . actu.
- Web site: Clyde . Jacqueline . June 1, 2016 . Gérard Rancinan . September 3, 2023 . Widewalls.
- http://www.triennale.it/en/exhibitions/next/730-trilogia-dei-moderni#.U8ejyRat1ZE
- Sud-Ouest (newspaper), Monday, 2 June 2008
- Beaux Arts Magazine July 2014
- http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/Ministere/Services-rattaches-a-la-ministre/Section-des-distinctions-honorifiques2/Arretes-de-Nominations-dans-l-ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres/Nomination-dans-l-ordre-des-Arts-et-des-Lettres-janvier-2013
