Biography

Stephane Graff (b. 1965) is a Franco-British artist based in London. His practice is characterised by the use of analogue photographic techniques and photorealistic paintings. Having been influenced by the psychoanalytical traditions of Freud and Jung, and scientific methods, Graff, regularly addresses themes of identity, concealment, memory and a secular conception of the sacred. In-depth research led Graff to develop Alter Egos such as the scientist ‘Professore’ and the ethno-botanist Dr Albert Frique. His most extensive bodies of work are the ‘Black Box’ paintings, the ‘Constrictions’ photographic series, and the ‘Mille-Feuille’ paintings, which are made on numerous strips of wood, combining the disciplines of painting and sculpture. Graff has exhibited internationally. Selected exhibitions include: National Museum of Sweden (2020), Ateneum Museum, Finland (2020), Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome (2018); Almine Rech Gallery, London (2016); The Musée d’Art Modern et Contemporain, Nice, France (2013); the Ercel Foundation, Turin, Italy (2010); the Operating Room, Amerikan Hastanesi, Istanbul (2010); the Musee de Marrakech, Morocco (2004); and the Museum of Mankind, London (1991).

 

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2020
    • Mille-Feuille and Sugar Bytes, Mucciaccia Gallery, London
  • 2018
    • Eyedentity, Partners and Mucciaccia, Singapore.
    • Eyedentity, Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome, Italy
  • 2016
    • Catalogue of Errors, Almine Rech Gallery, London, UK
  • 2010
    • Professore, Operation Room, Amerikan Hastanesi, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 2007
    • Black Box, Enrico Navarra, Paris, France 
  • 2006
    • Invisible Ink, Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK 
  • 2003
    • Les Remparts, Dar Charifa, Marrakech, Morocco 
  • 2001
    • Corps Anonyme, Studio show and book launch, London, UK 
  • 2000
    • Land, Hirshl Contemporary, London, UK 
  • 1999
    • Sandlines, Blains Fine Art, London, UK
  • 1997
    • Akhenaten’s Dream, Fabian Fryns Gallery, Marbella, Spain 
    • Still Glass, Michael Hoppen Photography, London, UK 
  • 1994
    • Sand Reliefs and Mummi cations, Burlington New Art Gallery, London, UK 
  • 1992
    • Constrictions, Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK 
  • 1991
    • Lost Tribe, Museum of Mankind, London, UK 
  • 1988
    • The Last Supper, Roussos Gallery, London, UK 

Group Exhibitions

  • 2020
    • IInspiration-Iconic Works, Ateneum Museum, Finland
    • Iconic Works, National Museum of Sweden
  • 2017 
    • Visionaries of the XXI Century, Partners & Mucciaccia, London, UK 
  • 2016
    • I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper, curated by Catherine Loewe. Griffin Gallery, London UK
  • 2015 
    • The Nude, Sotheby’s S2 Gallery, London, UK. 
    • Arboretum, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK.
  • 2013
    • La Quatrième dimension, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Nice, France 
  • 2012
    • Certains pleurent d’émotion devant les équations, Odile Ouizeman, Paris, France
    • London 12, City of Prague Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
    • Words, words, words, Beton Gallery, Athens, Greece
  • 2010
    • Identity Theft, Mimmo Scognamiglio Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
    • Platinum, Ercel Foundation, Turin, Italy
    • Wonderland, Assab One, Milan, Italy 
  • 2009
    • Play, Paradise Row, London, UK
    • Il faut être absolument moderne, Paradise Row, Istanbul, Turkey 
  • 2008
    • Africa, Bernard Shapero Gallery, London, UK 
  • 2004
    • Haik Project, Musée de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco 
  • 2001
    • Into the Light, Pamukbank Fotograf Galerisi, Istanbul, Turkey 
  • 2000
    • Painted Pictures, Michael Hoppen Photography, London, UK 
  • 1999
    • Into the Light, Calcogra a National, Madrid, Spain 
    • Silence in Painting, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK
    • Into the Light, Royal Photographic Society, Bath, UK
  • 1997
    • Six Artists, Lefevre Gallery, London, UK 
  • 1996
    • The Body, Michael Hoppen Photography, London, UK 
  • 1994
    • Constrictions, Lucie Weil-Selligman, Paris, France 
  • 1993
    • Constrictions, Zeit Foto Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 
  • 1992
    • Group Show, Kooling Gallery, London, UK 
  • 1991
    • Five Young Contemporaries, Crane Gallery, London, UK 
  • 1987 
    • Group Show, Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK

Bibliography – Stephane Graff

“Who was Jesus?”, The Sunday Times Magazine, London, UK, December 24, 1988. 

“Stephane Graff . The Last Supper”, Exhibition Catalogue, A. Roussos Gallery, London, UK, 1989. 

“Stephane Graff . The Last Supper”, A. Roussos Gallery, BoardRoom Magazine, January, London, UK, 1989. 

G.T. De Dreyer, “Stephane Graff .The Last Supper”, A. Roussos Gallery, The Best Magazine, Paris, France, February 1989.

Mary Rose Beaumont, “Five Young Contemporaries”, Crane Gallery, Arts Review, London, UK, February 8, 1991, p. 73.

“Constrictions”, Exhibition Catalogue, Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK, 1992. 

“Series of Constriction Nudes, A, B, SEA”, Art Newspaper, London, UK, 1992. 

Caroline Smith, “Bound to Please”, What’s On, London, UK, August 12, 1992, pp. 18–19. 

Exhibition Catalogue, ZEIT FOTO GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan, 1993. 

“Sand Reliefs and Mummications”, Exhibition Catalogue, Burlington New Art Gallery, London, UK, 1994. 

T De Dreyer, Exhibition Review, Sand Reliefs and Mummications, BoardRoom Magazine, London, UK, December 1994. 

David Cohen, “Stephane Graff ”, Contemporary Art, London, UK, 1994. 

Celia Littleton, “Sand Reliefs and Mummications”, TATLER, London, UK, December 1994. 

David Gritten, “Egyptian Inspiration”, The Daily Telegraph Arts & Books, London, UK, September 24, 1994. 

Karl-Peter Gottschalk, “Stéphane Graff ”, Black+White Magazine, Australia, June 1995, pp. 88–90. 

“Akhenaten’s Dream”, The Reporter, Spain, September 1997. “Akhenaten’s Dream”, El Puerto de Les Artes, Spain, October 1997. 

Antonio Garrido, “Akhenaten’s Dream”, La Bado, Spain, September 20, 1997. 

Enrique Castaños Ales, “El Sueño de Akhenaten”, EL SUR, Spain, September 7, 1997. 

”Contemporary British Art”, Exhibition Catalogue, Lefevre Gallery, London, UK, 1997. 

“Stephane Graff Mumien und Höhlenbilder”, Puerto Banús, Costa Blanca Nachrichten, September 25, 1997. 

Ales Enrique Castaños, “El sueño de Akhenaton, Critica de Arte”, Sabado: ARTE, October 11, 1997. 

“Silence in Painting”, Exhibition Catalogue, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK, 1999. 

“Sandlines”, Exhibition Catalogue, Blains Fine Art, London, UK, 1999. 

Waldemar Januszczak, “The Death of Photography”, Royal Photographic Society, Sunday Times Magazine, March 1999.

Stephane Graff , “The Art of Photograms”, Chemical Light, Limited edition book, London, UK, 2000. 

“Corps Anonyme, Black and White Photographic Nudes”, Limited Edition Book, London, UK, 2001. 

Platinum photography, 31 STUDIO, London, UK, 2004.

Marie Hallard, “Invisible Ink”, Photo Magazine, London, 2006. 

Du Reve a la légende, “Les Remparts” exhibition, Catalogue, Dar Cherifa, Marrakech, Morocco, 2006. 

Philippe Garner, Chris Townsend, Platinum photography, 31 STUDIO, London, UK, 2007. 

Augusto Pieroni, “STEPHANE GRAFF: Moulding the Naked Body”, EYEMAZING, Amsterdam, Holland, Spring 2006. 

Augusto Pieroni, “Leggere la fotografia”, Book cover, Roma Italy, 2006. 

Augusto Pieroni, “The Third Eye”, Stephane Graff . Black Box, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France, 2007, pp. 7–23.

Pat Befnergas, “In Search of the Sacred”, Stephane Graff . Black Box, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France, 2007, pp. 122–126. 

“Insight: The Constriction Series, Stephane Graff . Black Box”, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France, 2007, pp. 148-151.

Bernard Shapero, Exhibition Catalogue, Tribal Portraits, London, 2008. 

“Il Faut Etre Absolument Moderne”, Paradise Row, Hurliez Daily News, Istanbul, Turkey. 2009. 

“Professore”, Paradise Row, Avrupa Gazette, London, UK, 2009. “Professore”, Operation Room, SABAT, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010. 

Ali Deniz Uslu, “Professore”, Operation Room, Cum Huriet Pazar, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010. 

Piril Gülesçi Arikonmaz, “Professore”, Operation Room, Habaturk, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010. 

“Professore”, Operation Room, OK Magazine, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010. 

Cristiana Campanini, “Via Padova come l’East End coi nipotini di Damien Hirst”, La Repubblica, Milan, Italy, April 8, 2010. 

Mine Haydargülu, “Professore”, Operation Room, Sanat Duntamiz, Istanbul 2010. 

“Stephane Graff , Professore”, Exhibition Catalogue, Amerikan Hastanesi, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010. 

Chloe Vaitsou, “Stephane Graff : The Strange Case of Professore”, Amerikan Hastenasi Yayinlari, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010, pp. 15–19. 

Fatos Üstek, “Stephane Graff in conversation with Fatos Ustek”, Amerikan Hastenasi Yayinlari. Istambul, Turkey, 2010, pp. 168–172. 

Florence Lobet, “Professore”, EYEMAZING Magazine, Amsterdam, Holland, Issue 3, 2011. 

“Platinum”, 31 STUDIO Archive, in collaboration with Ersel Foundation, Turin, Italy, 2010. 

Mine Haydaroglu, “An alter ego’s look at art and science: Stephane Graff and ‘Professore’”, Sanat Dünyamiz: Kültur Ve Sanat dergisi iki ayda bir yayimlanir, Sanat Dünyamiz May – June 2011, pp. 47–55.

LONDON TWELVE, Exhibition Catalogue, GHMP (Prague City Gallery), Prague, Czech Republic, 2012. 

“Si/If…”, BIL BO K Magazines des errancies contemporaines, Paris, France, n. 30, Bruxelles/Paris, Belgium/France, Biannual, May 2012. 

Phillipe Dagen, “Galerie: Eric Duyckaerts, Jean-Michel Pancin, Reynold Reynolds, Stéphane Graff : Galerie Odile Quizeman”, LE MONDE, Exhibition Review, Odile Ouizeman Gallery, Paris, France, February 27, 2012. 

“La quatrième dimension. (Julien Crépieux, Stéphane Graff , Laurent Grasso, Bertrand Lamarche, Stéphane Thidet)”,

Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC), Nice, France, February 9 – May 26, 2013. 

Susan Zadeh, “Eyemazing: The New Collectible Photography”, Thames and Hudson, London, UK, 2013, p. 529. 

ARBORETUM. “A Journey Through Trees”, Exhibition Catalogue, Crane Kalman Gallery, November 19, 2015 – January 16, 2016, London, UK, 2016, pp. 62-63. 

Arboretum, “Into the Woods”, Crane Kalman Gallery, Luxury London, London, UK, 2016. 

#18, Gallery Catalogue, Almine Rech Gallery, London, UK, 2016, pp. 66-67. 

V. Lindrea and K. Smith, “First Look: A Catalogue of Errors”, BBC NEWS, London, UK, 2017. 

Catherine Loewe, “I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper”, Exhibition Catalogue, Griffin Gallery, London, UK, 2017. 

Eyedentity, Exhibition Catalogue, Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome, Italy, March 22 – May 05,  2018.

James Putnam, The Archaeology of the Image, Catalogue Essay, Eyedentity, Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome, Italy, March 22 – May 05, 2018.

Identity Theft, Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome, Italy, March 2018.

Costantino D’Orazio, Facing the Portrait, Identity Theft, Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome, Italy, March 2018.