Gigi Stoll & Stephanie Tamez: We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live

De Buck Gallery is pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition entitled We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live, on view in the gallery’s project room from September 18 through October 4, 2014. The works on view represent the collaborative work of artists Gigi Stoll and Stephanie Tamez, produced together as a result of over three decades of friendship. An opening reception in the presence of both artists will be held on September 18 from 6-8 PM at the gallery. 

Taking its name from a book by Joan Didion, this exhibition seeks to provide a visual and written narrative to the life-long relationship between the two artists. Friends since their youth, the canvasses presented in the exhibition utilize images by photographer Stoll enlivened by painted details added by Tamez. The overall aesthetic strongly recalls the latter’s background as a tattoo artist, creating a deep but complimentary contrast with Stoll’s often-delicate photographs of animals or nude women.

In addition to the artwork, the exhibition features an extensive installation of postcards and letters sent between the two women since the 1980s. While the imagery on these cards tell tales of travel, adventure, and lives lived to the fullest, equally intriguing are the messages hand-written on their backs. Just a small sampling of these postcards provides a snapshot of the long-held affection between two friends across the distances of time and space. Through the postcards, Stoll and Tamez’s lives are laid bare for their audience; their notes inform their collaborative artwork, and together one can recreate an understanding of their love for one another.

Gigi Stoll is a commercial and fine art photographer, specializing in portraits. She currently lives and works in New York. Stoll was first introduced to photography through a more than twenty-year long career as a model. Her work has been featured in publications including Whitewall, Harpers Bazaar Japan and Vogue Japan.

In addition to painting, Stephanie Tamez is a professional tattoo artist and co-owner of Saved Tattoo Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her work has been featured in New York, Juxtapoz, and Inked, among others, and she currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

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