Le Dernier cri

Erwin Olaf (1959, Netherlands), lives and works in Amsterdam since the early 1980´s. Mixing photo-jurnalism with studio photography, Olaf emerged in the international art scene in 1988, when he was awarded the first prize in the young photographer exhibition. Since then he has continued to explore issues of gender, sensuality, humor, despair and grace. Video and film offer new possibilities to explore. His first film Tadzio (1991, co-dir. F. Franciscus) was soon followed by comic videos for children, short documentaries, music clips and various commissions. Over the past few years Erwin Olaf has focused on video and set-up. A master of provocation, he glamorizes vices and taboos. His sources of inspiration run from fashion to movies, via advertising, painting, or photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Jan Saudek...