SHANGHAI 8

About Klaus Thymann

Giraffe Manor Klaus Thymann has a feel for places and moments so out of the ordinary that we question whether our eyes are deceiving us. “Giraffe Manor” actually exists in Nairobi, Kenya. Guests at the hotel share the grounds with a… Read more

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Giraffe Manor

Klaus Thymann has a feel for places and moments so out of the ordinary that we question whether our eyes are deceiving us. “Giraffe Manor” actually exists in Nairobi, Kenya. Guests at the hotel share the grounds with a herd of endangered Rothschild giraffes from a nearby nature reserve. Only a few hundred of this subspecies remain in the wild. These curious animals like to poke their heads through the manor windows, and some even eat from the breakfast table – a thought that is as moving as it is bizarre. We cannot help but smile and marvel at the nearly surreal scenes Thymann captures.

Daniela Kummle

Nude and the City: Klaus Thymann’s Shanghai Nudes

To be noticed in a city of over 18 million is an art. Klaus Thymann confronts the backdrop of the anonymous megacity Shanghai with a pure sex appeal of Western making. The beautiful blond, who in public spaces is still restrained but in the supposed security of an endless landscape of rooftops sheds her cover, originate from the universe of a master of erotic photography: Helmut Newton. But different from Newton’s scenes, in Thymann’s photographs there is always a component of danger, of being discovered by the foreign residents of an exotic urban landscape. This creates a tension that can only emerge in places where cultures collide.

Klaus Thymann lives in London and has filmed music videos for bands and musicians such as Depeche Mode, Coldplay, and David Bowie. In many of his series he integrates elements of current trends of the most various subcultures. Shanghai, for instance, does not seem the shiny new product of a massive economic boom; rather, he shows its rough edges. The skyline and the luminous neon lights of the city are filtered through smoke; the beautiful visitors lie naked on cement. Thymann’s visual world does not look born of the superficial world of glamour. It is both authentic and unreal.

Horst Klöver

VITA

Klaus Thyman was born in Denmark in 1974 and opened his first studio in Copenhagen in 1995. He lives in London as a photographer and director.

2022	Fellow at The Royal Geographical Society
2020	current Advisory board of Danish School of Media and Journalism current Hasselblad Ambassador
2011-2019	Board Member of Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS)
2008	current Founder and Director Project Pressure

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2019	VOICES FOR THE FUTURE, projection onto the UN building in New York 2019 Shroud at Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica
2015	Timezone at The Supermarket, New York
2010	'Klaus Thymann for i-D’ at BBlessing, New York
2008	HYBRIDS, Exposure, London
2007	HYBRIDS book launch and solo exhibition at DreamBag Jaguar shoes, London HYBRIDS book launch and solo exhibition at V1 Gallery, Copenhagen HYBRIDS book launch and solo exhibition at Wild Project, New York
2006	‘I can’t see what you are saying’ at B&B Premium in conjunction with ArtMBassy, Berlin 2006 no.one Gallery, London
2005	Fast Forwad on Pause r-s-v-p Gallery, Munich
2004	‘Because my phone is not a camera’ at Viaux Gallery, Hamburg

Selected collaborations  Publications and Broadcast BBC, Bloomberg Business Week, British Journal of Photography, CNN, Danish Broadcast, Dazed & Confused, Disegno, Financial Times, GQ, i-D, Lensculture, L’Officiel Hommes, National Geographic, New York Times, NPR, Nowness, Monocle, Outside, POP, Rolling Stones, Royal Photographic Society Journal, The Face, The Guardian, The Observer, Vice, V Magazine, V Magazine, Wired Science and Academia Central St. Martins, Danish Technical University Aqua, Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NASA, Oxford University, London School of Economics, University of the Arts London, University of Brighton, University of Cancun, University of Copenhagen, University of Florida, University of Roma, World Glacier Monitoring Service Institutions, Charities and NGOs Alzheimer’s Society, Amigos de Sian Ka’an, Design and Artists Copyright Society, Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, Glacier Trust, Global Ocean Trust, Homeless World Cup, Lighthouse Foundation, London Cycling Campaign, Red Cross, Teenage Cancer Trust, UNICEF, United Nations, University of Florida, Wildlife Trust, Women for Women, World Health Organization Brands Adidas, Asics, Audi, Bjorn Borg, BMW Motorcycles, Carlsberg, Casio, Coca-Cola, Diesel, Dr Martens, Fjällraven, Hasselblad, Gatorade, Google, HSBC, Jaguar, Johnnie Walker, Jordan, Lenovo, Levi’s, Nike, Playstation, Ralph Lauren, Reebok, Sony, Speedo, Target, T-Mobile, Umbro, Westin Resorts Exhibitions and Collections Design Museum Denmark, Horniman Museum London, Institute of Contemporary Art London, Natural History Museum Vienna, Museum of Climate Change Hong Kong, Museum of Modern Art Stockholm, MoMA San Francisco

Group Exhibitions

2022	MELTDOWN at Whirinaki Whare Taonga & Nelson Provincial Museum, New Zealand 2021 MELTDOWN at galerija Jakopič, Ljubiana
2021	‘Forever Changes’ Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow Mountains, Stimultana, Strasbourg
2020	Project Pressure at Landskrona Fotofestival ‘Living the City’, Tempelhof, Berlin ‘Kiruna Forever’, ArkDes, Stockholm Night Fever. Designing Club Culture 1960 – Today, Design Museum Denmark 2019 MELTDOWN at The Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
2019	WARNING SIGNS at Alt +1000 with Musée des beaux-arts, Le Locle 2019 MELTDOWN at Natural History Museum, Vienna
2018	‘When Records Melt’ at Museum of Unseen, Amsterdam 2018 ‘Vanishing Glaciers’ at Museum of Climate Change, Hong Kong 2016 Uncertain States at The Mile End Art Pavilion, London
2015	NEO Artprize 2015 Finalist, Bolton Nordic House Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh
2014	125 Live at Londonnewcastle, London
2013	House of Arts, part of National Cultural Centre, Bratislava Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London
2012	Featured artist in Contemporary Art Society Leap! Gala
2011	Menonsyne selected for The-Event at Grand Union, Birmingham Menonsyne public screening at Big Screen Project, New York CITIES: visionary places at Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles After the crash at Orto Botanico UNESCO heritage site (with catalogue), Rome