Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, better known as Mert & Marcus, have been collaborating on fashion shoots for 20 years, photographing everyone from Kate Moss to Kim Kardashian. For the first time this autumn, collectors will be able to acquire these works through Phillips, which is hosting the pair’s first major solo show.
Organised in collaboration with the artist management agency, Art Partner, the selling show consists of 18 works previously published in magazines including Vogue, Playboy, W and Interview. The characteristically seductive, highly polished images feature models such as Karen Larson, Cara Delevingne and Lara Stone. Prices start at £16,000, with each image available in an edition of five. Four unique works are also estimated to sell for between £30,000 and £50,000 at auction in London on 3 November.
Mert & Marcus met in 1994 at the height of the 1990s London club scene and had their big break three years later when they landed the cover of Dazed & Confused. Since then they have forged highly successful careers, photographing campaigns for Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton, among others. The duo’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Genevieve Janvrin, Phillips’s head of photographs in Europe, says there has been a “notable increase” in recognition and demand for fashion photography in recent years and this partnership will allow collectors the first opportunity to acquire works by “two of the most influential artists working in this sphere”.
Mert & Marcus: Works 2001-2014 goes on display at the auction house’s London headquarters from 24 October to 3 November before travelling to Phillips’s Paris gallery from 9 to 16 November to coincide with Paris Photo.
