ALONE TOGETHER

Christopher Makos was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, grew up in California, and moved to New York City after high school. During the 1970's and 80's, Makos traveled frequently with good friend and frequent portrait subject Andy Warhol. Makos works such as the Altered Image series (1981), along with the photos collected in Makos/Warhol (1987), are widely viewed as forming that era's most complete and compelling photographic record of Warhol and his milieu. Makos' works have been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide, including The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, The Tate Modern, London, The National Gallery, Washington, D.C., The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Brooklyn Museum, New York. His work is in the permanent collections of The IVAM in Valencia, Spain, The Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, and the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. His pictures have appeared in magazines and newspapers including Paris Match, Esquire and the WSJ Int'l, and the NY Times. He is the author of numerous books, including White Trash, (1976), In Context (2007), Andy Warhol China 1982 (2007), Christopher Makos Polaroids (2009) and Everything: The Black and White Monograph (2014). makostudio.com

Paul Solberg studied Anthropology at the University of Cape Town, and traveled extensively through Bophuthatswana, Namibia, and South America before moving to NYC in 1996 from his native Minnesota. Solberg began his photographic career with his first published book, Bloom (2005), following Puppies Behind Bars (2006), Tyrants + Lederhosen (2011), Tattoos, Hornets & Fire (2012), and the monograph, Ten Years In Pictures (2014). First known for his acclaimed still life portraits, the same depth is seen in his human subjects, such as the portrait of Ai Weiwei (2008), and in his haunting portraits of the Armed Forces, in Service (2010), which resides in such collections as the Elton John Photography Collection. Solberg's photographs have been published in Publisher's Weekly, Le Figaro, CNN, L'Oeil de la Photographie, Interview Magazine, WWD, WSJ Int'l, Conde Nast Traveler, The Huffington Post, and New York Daily News. Solberg's work has been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries, including: La Casa Encendida (Madrid), Subte Museum (Montevideo), Galerie Sho Contemporary Art (Tokyo), Galerie Hiltawsky (Berlin), Karl Hutter Fine Art (LA), Casa de Costa (NY), Peter Marcelle Project (NY) and Galerie Catherine Houard (Paris). Solberg lives in New York City. paulsolberg.com

Palazzo Cozza Caposavi - declared a national monument and part of the Italian Historic Houses Association - was erected in 1561 by Cardinal Tiberio Crispo to use it as his personal home, but he lived there only a year . The locals were annoyed by his arrogance, and removed the cardinal Tiberio from the office of Governor of the Patrimony of St. Peter. At that time the building was divided into two different buildings: the one towards the castle became the property Cozza while that towards the Medici fountain became the property Caposavi. vescontebnb.com

"Alone Together", the newest show by New York based photographers Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, opened September 10th, 2016 at the historic Palazzo Cozza Caposani (c.1561) located in the medieval town of Bolsena, Italy.

With some 50 works by Makos and Solberg and their shared art identity, The Hilton Brothers, the unique Palazzo is an effective counterpoint to the works of these two contemporary New York artists. 16-Century meets 21st Century, interacting playfully-to-poignantly through the 3 floors of the exhibition. One example of this synergy of art and venue is We the People (2014), the Hilton Brothers recent series where they explore China/United States parallels, all residing in the stage setting of the palazzo's opulent Oriental Room. "Our work juxtaposed in this jewel of a palazzo, it was an immediate Yes", the artistic duo proclaim. "It's the perfect stage setting full of connection and contradiction, which thrills us".

Other works exhibited include examples from: Andy Dandy (2007), a portfolio based on Makos' legendary Altered image (1981) series paired with Solberg's flower portraits from Bloom (2005), Service, (2010), Solberg's ghostly portraits of military youth, and the Hilton Brothers' Truth (2006) & Conscience (2007), portfolios inspired by icons of Western European classical sculpture.

It's an intimate window into two contrasting solo careers and their interwoven 12-year collaboration. Alone Together is a selection of works both on and off-road, spanning 4 decades for one artist, and just over a decade for the other. The result is a compelling tapestry of both imagery and time, which seems created only for this particular venue. "Bolsena has such rich artistic earth", says Solberg + Makos. "From the Etruscans right up to the Arte Povera movement of the 60's, the spirit of Cy Twombly, Enrico Castellani, and Robert Rauschenberg still echo through the caves."

The Hilton Brothers (2004) a Makos+Solberg conception is derived from the 1930's Siamese-twins vaudeville stars, the Hilton Sisters. These visual storytellers explore the freedom and parameters of collaboration, a shared language spoken through their pictures and collage. Blurring and fusing two disparate styles, each of their collaborative works subtly commenting on the world today, or escaping from it, through their images around the globe. Their most notable works are in the series, "Speed" (2006), "Andy Dandy" (2007), and :Narrative" (2009) and "Conscience" (2007). They share numerous publications, such as Mistaken Identity (2009) and their opus, Tyrants + Lederhosen (2011). Their work has been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries, including La Casa Encendida (Madrid), Galerie Catherine Houard (Paris), Galerie Sho Contemporary Art (Tokyo), Christopher Henry Gallery (New York), Karl Hutter Fine Art (LA), and NSU Art Museum. thehiltonbrothers.com