Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg is always searching — studying works of art.
What she’s looking for is mysterious and elusive.
She studies for hours and in the end, as the good detective she is, she always finds what she is looking for.
Inspiration.
Inspiration. Conceptual Art. The ability to see and connect patterns in a highly personal way that are elusive to the rest of us.
Lautenberg’s series, “Artistica! Where Art Meets Hollywood,” draws on the movies, featuring single film frames combined with an artwork from the same year. This exhibit will be at the Monika Olko Gallery in Sag Harbor, opening Friday, August 19, with a reception from 5:30 to 7 PM at 95 Main Street, and will be there until Labor Day.
When did you start taking pictures?
I started out taking photographs of my children as soon as they were born. I was pursuing an acting career at that time. I was on set for the film “Next Stop, Greenwich Village” and was about five months pregnant with my second child. I met a woman on that set, whose daughter was in the film. That woman told me she had a friend who was a photographer and liked to photograph pregnant women and children. The photographer’s name was Erica Stone.
Erica came to my home and took pictures of me and my daughter, and continued taking pictures when my second daughter was born. I think I learned a lot from Erica, who was a big influence in my wanting to take great pictures. She, of course, was using professional equipment and I was using a small point-and-shoot. When my sister Lois bought a Canon camera, I went and bought the same camera. I was now hooked, and started taking classes at the International Center of Photography, and studying with different photographers to learn as much as I could.
Have you had a show out on the East End before?
About 16 years ago I had my first show in Sag Harbor at The Gallery on Main Street. I met the gallery owner, she asked if I had anything appropriate for Valentine’s Day. I told her I had some delicious-looking strawberries, yummy ruby red tomatoes, and a magnificent red tulip. She came to my house to see them and wanted them for her first exhibition. I went to the gallery and the wall with my three images looked amazing. The gallery proprietor offered me my own show that July. I exhibited everything to do with nature.
I sold 20-something images from that first show and I was off and running.
Can you talk about your senator series?
When I came up with ideas such as “How They Changed Our Lives: Senators As Working People,” it was really fulfilling. That happened because my late husband, Senator Frank Lautenberg, was so prolific in his legislative career, such as writing the law for No Smoking On Airplanes, 21 Age Drinking Bill, Stopping Ocean Dumping, .08 Liquor Bill, Stopping Spousal Abusers From Getting Gun Permits, and more.
I started wondering what his other colleagues were doing. So in 2007, I told him I wanted to photograph all his colleagues and ask them what their legacy piece of legislation was. He said “You will never get the conservative Republicans to let you photograph them.” He was wrong, I photographed all 100 Senators in the 109th Congress. It was fantastic.
How did that happen? One day I walked into Harry Reid’s office, who was the Minority Leader at that time, to ask his assistant if I could get an appointment to photograph Senator Reid for this project. I was Senator Lautenberg’s wife and knew many of the Senators, of course, some better than others, so asking wasn’t that difficult. Senator Reid was in his office, invited me in and I showed him the project. He wanted to be involved.
Then I had the temerity to walk across the hall into the Majority Leader’s office, Senator Bill Frist. I never expected to see him, but he was in his office also and the person at his reception desk called his assistant to say I was in the office. His assistant called him and he said to invite me in. I walked in, he could not have been more friendly and so nice. When I showed him photographs about this project, he was delighted to be part of it.
Once I had the Republican Majority Leader, all the Republican Senators were in. I photographed all 100 Senators within four months. That body of work was produced and hung at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, and was a huge success. I was so lucky to have gotten so much press from that show and it was so well received. I gave it to the Library of Congress because the then-librarian, James Billington, asked me for it first. It is now online, in perpetuity, at the Library. I am very honored to be there.
How about the rockstars you’ve captured?
“Pop Rocks” happened in 2010 when Frank called me one morning. He was in Washington and I was in New York. He said, “Bonnie, there’s a singer named Lady Gaga on the front page of the entertainment center of the New York Times. She is performing at Radio City Music Hall this weekend and I would love to see her.” He was almost 86 years young at that time and it was his birthday and our anniversary that weekend so I thought what a great gift. I called a ticket broker friend of mine and said I wanted to sit toward the front at Radio City. Then I read the Times article and it said she allowed photographs! Wow, that was so cool!
When we walked down the aisle at Radio City, I could not get over that our tickets were front row, center. The lights went down, I took out my camera and I started photographing her. Her show was phenomenal I could not believe she was allowing her audience to take pictures. She was so smart, because she wanted people to post images of her performing and everyone did! That was way back in 2010! She certainly understood social media.
I had my first exhibit of that work at Vered Gallery in East Hampton during the Hamptons Film Festival. It is not a good idea to have an art exhibition during the film festival because everyone is running in and out to get to their film on time. But when Vered and Janet Lehr gave me that show, I knew I had something really good and have been exhibiting that work ever since. I photographed Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, and Katy Perry also.
I love getting that perfect shot, as I did when photographing Miley Cyrus, which I call “Spitting Image.” I loved photographing Katy Perry when she performed for Hillary Clinton and got a great exciting shot that has been very successful.
I admire the work of Annie Liebovitz and wish I had the ability to have the freedom to get those fabulous intimate portraits she has taken of so many famous people. I find her work exciting and admire her talent, creativity and ability.
How did the “Artistica!” project come about?
The “Artistica!” project happened because I wanted to do more than photography. I wanted to do something conceptual and something different, so I began thinking about what artists are influenced by. Current events, things they are surrounded by, and other art forms came to mind. I started thinking about art forms and focused on films and paintings.
I can’t really paint so this project was going to be computer generated, and I played around with this idea using a favorite film of mine, “Splendor In The Grass,” starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty. I was obsessed with both of them. Then I chose a Jasper Johns map painting I was also obsessed with, and so bummed that I never bought his work when they were affordable. This film and that Johns painting were done in the same year but they really didn’t have a connection in my mind, other than being a test for this project to see if pairing film and art would be interesting and worth pursuing.
The project got better and better and my pairings became more interesting. “Singin’ in the Rain” with Kusama’s “The Sea,” both from 1952; “E.T.” with Basquiat, “Untitled” in 1982; Clifford Still’s “PH 971” with Audrey Hepburn in “Funny Face” in 1957; Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give,” paired with Larry Poons, “Hope Not Trail” in 2003; Eric Fischl, “Booth #27” with “Birdman” in 2014, the movie “American Beauty” with James Turrell, “The Light Inside” in 1999.
As of now there are about 90 pieces in this body of work and it keeps growing. The interest from galleries and museums keeps growing so that makes me very happy.
What’s next, Bonnie?
My latest conceptual piece of art has to do with the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It is a fabulous piece of art that I know will be a great iconic piece, because so far I sold eight pieces in one day and it’s not quite finished. I want the money to go to the right organization which will do the most to help women in need of an abortion in those states that don’t allow it.
To learn more, visit bonnielautenberg.com.