Creating fictional characters with tabloid-worthy lives is nothing new in photography. Take Rrose Selavy, a creation of Marcel Duchamps, played by himself, who appeared in ads, in books and in films during the 1920s. Recently seen at the International Center of Photography was Richard Avedon's feature about fictional lovers played by Mike Nichols and Suzy Parker, who are hotly pursued by paparazzi in a 1962 issue of Harpers Bazaar.

But until now, no one has taken the idea to extremes - and to artistic and novelistic heights - as Josh Gosfield has done with Gigi Gaston, the Black Flower, opening tonight at Steven Kasher Gallery.

Left and right above: copyright Josh Gosfield, courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery. Installation shot, center by Peggy Roalf.

The New York-based artist/photographer and video-maker has produced a complete archive of posters, magazines and ephemera detailing the life of a teenage French pop phenomenon whose spectacular rise to fame and her equally spectacular romances and tragedies captivated the public through the 1960s and 70s. Gigi was the poster girl for Gitane cigarettes. She shows up on the cover of the fan magazine Musical Express with the Beatles (who loved her), on the cover of Harpers Bazaar and in weekly rags like Paris Match and Jour de France.

The gallery is filled to overflowing with printed matter detailing her rise up (and fall down) the charts, the car crashes, funerals, love triangles, and a murder trial that all added up to a life played out in a garish media spotlight before the insatiable eyes of her public.

Norman Mailer, we are told, wrote in a 1974 Esquire story, "Could this Black Flower with a voice like Edith Piaf have guessed that when she bloomed into a teenage singing idol for post-war European youth, and later became the Continental fashion icon and sexy French pin-up girl on the bedroom walls of the hippest kids, that the future would strangle her dreams of normalcy, like the protagonists in one her romantically fatalistic songs? No, of course not. Because the characters of Greek tragedies are always the last to know their fates."

In addition to the large scale prints are a music video [as if] shot by Jean Luc Goddard and a souvenir limited edition compilation of Gigi graphics being offered at the opening tonight for the discounted price of $90. To preview the look, the feel and the sound of Gigi Gaston's sensational life and work, visit the trailer.

The opening reception for Gigi Gaston, The Black Flower by Josh Gosfield is tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The exhibition continues through November 25th, 2009 at Steven Kasher Gallery 521 W. 23rd St., New York, NY. For information please visit the website or call 212.966.3978.

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