by sara bertoni

From September 15 to December 14 2006, Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam presents ‘The Kate Show’. An exhibition focusing on style icon, super-model and muse Kate Moss.

Why, after recent scandals, is Kate Moss still the leader of the supermodel pack? What is it about Kate Moss that makes her so compelling? Amsterdam’s Foam Gallery decided to find out, inviting artists and photographers from around the world to give their take on Kate’s appeal.

According to the Foam’s curator, Colette Olof, this exhibition is not a show about Kate Moss herself, but her image. Foam initially invited Olivier Zahm (editor of Parisian fashion magazine, Purple) and the artist Rita Ackermann to do an exhibition on fashion photography. They suggested a group show with several photographers and artists all doing their own description of Kate as a phenomenon.

Thanks to Merel Kappelhoff (Foam Communication Department) I could enter the exhibition just 10 minutes before the official opening and was able to take some pictures.The show includes work by photographers Terry Richardson and Mario Sorrenti who have regularly portrayed Kate for fashion and other reportages

Although Kate’s tumultuous life regularly gets her into the papers, she hardly ever gives interviews. Unlike many of her fellow models, she has no career ambitions in other areas, like film or music. She confines herself to what she’s good at: posing. As a result a mysterious aura surrounds the world’s most photographed model.

This is very well express by Rita Ackermann’s hand-writing on the wall: “…. Fragile, too natural, too real and willingly omnisexually attractive. Kate Moss says nothing, but looks everything. She is the center of attention, but won’t be left with the responsibility. What is she responsible for? She does her work well. She works hard to be an image, to sell well, to enjoy the good times, to survive the bad times, to live her life, to be anybody just as much as Somebody. The best about her that these are no reasons to write about or think of her, but to look at her…”

The story of Kate Moss (b. 1974, Croydon, UK) is already legend. She was only 14 when she was discovered by Sarah Doukas, founder of the British modelling agency Storm. When her first session with photographer Corinne Day for youth magazine The Face appeared, it made an immediate impact on the fashion world. In 1993 she became the face of Calvin Klein.
Following the celebrated glamour look of top models of the 1980s, Kate Moss became the first anti-model, with her famous waif look. It became known as heroin chic, and was considered extremely controversial since pictures of the incredibly lean Moss supposedly encouraged young girls to become anorexic

In the late 1990s Kate Moss became one of the world’s leading models. She became extremely well known in and outside the fashion industry, working for the finest photographers and the best fashion magazines.

‘The Kate Show’ can be seen from 15 September to 14 December 2006 at Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. Open daily from 10.00 to 17.00, Thurs/Fri 10.00-21.00. Tickets: € 6.50