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John Lennon's You Are Here Exhibition, Robert Fraser Gallery, London

Photograph
1968 (photographed), 1999 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Cooper, Michael (photographer)
Place of origin
London (photographed)

The Robert Fraser Gallery opened in Duke Street, St James in 1963. Robert Fraser promoted British pop and conceptual artists and introduced contemporary American artists such as Claus Oldenberg, Jim Dine and Larry Rivers to a British audience, as well as exhibiting the work of more established artists such as Magritte and Dubuffet. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were among the gallery's fashionable clientele. Michael Cooper joined the gallery in 1964 and worked for Fraser as the gallery photographer, recording events and producing publicity materials. Through Fraser he had access to many avant garde artists and writers, and got to know the members of the Rolling Stones, whom he photographed extensively during the 1960s and early 1970s.

This photograph was taken during John Lennon's 'You are here' exhibition at the Robert Fraser gallery in 1968.

Object details

Category
Photographs
Object type
Photograph
TitleJohn Lennon's You Are Here Exhibition, Robert Fraser Gallery, London (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Gelatin-silver print
Brief description
'John Lennon's You Are Here Exhibition, Robert Fraser Gallery, London', gelatin-silver print, Michael Cooper, London, 1968
Physical description
Black and white photograph of two men holding white balloons in front of a glass window, on which is written 'today and everyday Live Balloon Blowing 2 til 6pm'
Dimensions
  • Image, approx. height: 27cm
  • Image, approx. width: 40cm
Style
Sixties
Gallery label
(1999)
Michael Cooper 1941-1973

For over a quarter of a century, the photographs of Michael Cooper have been identified with the chronology of the Rolling Stones. His documentation of the years that he knew them, from 1963 to his death a decade later, has ensured that his name is synonymous with the band. Part of its fact – and its mythology.

He was also involved with the London art scene of the sixties. The Robert Fraser Gallery in Duke Street, Mayfair – to which Cooper became attached in 1964 – played host to the incipient Pop Art movement as well as to established names such as Jean Dubuffet and Rene Magritte.

Cooper typically photographed in available light and in a documentary style. He turned photojournalist proper – though commissioned by no-one – to record two occasions when the counter-culture stood firm against the establishment, calling for the cessation of American military involvement in Vietnam. Cooper turned his camera on the riots at the Democratic Convention, Chicago, in the summer of 1968 and the disturbances in the same year outside the American embassy in London.

The subjects of Michael Cooper’s photographs were, as he said “not just faces that I have photographed but people I have worked with or become involved with on a very personal level”. They are an intimate chronicle of the cultural and political climate of a vibrant moment of history.

Robin Muir

Michael Cooper – You Are Here: The London Sixties by Robin Muir is published by Schirmer/Mosel to coincide with this exhibition.
Credit line
Given by Adam Cooper
Historical context
The Robert Fraser Gallery opened in Duke Street, St James in 1963. Robert Fraser promoted British pop and conceptual artists and introduced contemporary American artists such as Claus Oldenberg, Jim Dine and Larry Rivers to a British audience, as well as exhibiting the work of more established artists such as Magritte and Dubuffet. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were among the gallery's fashionable clientele. Michael Cooper joined the gallery in 1964 and worked for Fraser as the gallery photographer, recording events and producing publicity materials. Through Fraser he had access to many avant garde artists and writers, and got to know the members of the Rolling Stones.
Production
Attribution note: Print made from original negative for Triple Exposure exhibition at the V&A
Place depicted
London
Summary
The Robert Fraser Gallery opened in Duke Street, St James in 1963. Robert Fraser promoted British pop and conceptual artists and introduced contemporary American artists such as Claus Oldenberg, Jim Dine and Larry Rivers to a British audience, as well as exhibiting the work of more established artists such as Magritte and Dubuffet. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were among the gallery's fashionable clientele. Michael Cooper joined the gallery in 1964 and worked for Fraser as the gallery photographer, recording events and producing publicity materials. Through Fraser he had access to many avant garde artists and writers, and got to know the members of the Rolling Stones, whom he photographed extensively during the 1960s and early 1970s.

This photograph was taken during John Lennon's 'You are here' exhibition at the Robert Fraser gallery in 1968.
Bibliographic reference
Michael Cooper - You Are Here: The London Sixties by Robin Muir, published by Schirmer/Mosel, 1999
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.2058-2004

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Record createdMarch 17, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O97077/john-lennons-you-are-here-photograph-cooper-michael/
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