From the Catalogue: Mert & Marcus, Lots 75 - 78

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the collaboration of the dynamic artist duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott (Turkish, b. 1971 and Welsh, b. 1971), known as Mert & Marcus. To celebrate, the artists have created four unique-sized one-off works exclusively for ULTIMATE. The four selected works showcase their discerning and constantly evolving aesthetic and include images previously published in LOVE, Pop and Playboy. Smoke, 2011 (lot 75), and Missy Running, 2005 (lot 76), are two key works that epitomise Mert & Marcus’ colour and black-and-white imagery. Both Lazer Beam (lot 77) and Striptease (lot 78) feature Kate Moss and were taken in 2014 for Playboy’s 60th Anniversary Issue.

Two of the most successful fashion photographers working today, Mert & Marcus met in 1994 in London amid the 90s London club scene and their shared love of art and photography quickly evolved into a working partnership. Their first success as a collaborative duo came in 1997 when they landed the coveted cover of Dazed & Confused and since then, their alluring images have been featured globally in magazines, including Interview, LOVE, Vanity Fair, Vogue and W, as well as in advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Gucci, Lancôme, Louis Vuitton, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including the V&A, London; the National Portrait Gallery, London; and the New York Public Library.

To coincide with this exclusive offering in ULTIMATE, the creative duo’s first major exhibition Mert & Marcus: Works 2001–2014, featuring 18 works, will be on display at Phillips’ London headquarters in Mayfair from 24 October to 3 November 2016, before travelling to Phillips’ Paris gallery in Saint Germain from 9 to 16 November 2016.