THE COUCH
A Timeline
The Birth of the Idea
The very first photograph of Russell Maltz on the couch in a New York loft. A historic moment full of analog charm — the beginning of a social sculpture that continues to grow to this day.
The Official Project Launch
The journey begins. The red couch placed in a surreal American landscape — highways and vast plains become the stage for a wandering portrait of a country.
Stern Magazine & ADC Gold
The famous large-scale photo essay in the German Stern magazine, which later won double gold. The couch becomes the documentary frame of an entire country.
Publication of the Photo Book
The official release of the world-renowned book "The Red Couch: A Portrait of America." Years of travel become a lasting work of photo and art history.
Transition to the DNA Portrait
The first DNA self-portrait created by Kevin Clarke marks the conceptual transition from the couch to gene sequencing — a new dimension of portraiture emerges.
The Idea 2.0
A red couch is chosen. The first conversations about a social sculpture begin.
The Journey
The couch travels. First portraits are made in studios and open spaces.
The Conversations
Long-form interviews begin. The archive grows into a collective portrait.
Jeff Koons on the Red Couch — Munich Opera Festival
Jeff Koons returns to Munich to clad the columns of the Bavarian State Opera for the opening of the Munich Opera Festival — and sits, once again, on Kevin Clarke's original 1979 Red Couch. A long conversation with Handelsblatt's Hans-Jürgen Jakobs follows: “I'm a romantic at heart.”
The Sofa Story — Anette Bosetti
A found mustard-yellow sofa on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon — a small moment that becomes a quiet companion. Anette Bosetti's story traces the life of a couch that gathers the marks of those who sat on it: dreams of great journeys, love letters read, solitary evenings witnessed. Between cleaning the cushions and finding a handwritten note bearing a single word — “Arrive” — the sofa becomes a piece of history, a little nostalgia, and the certainty that sometimes the unexpected is what makes a place truly home.
UNITY / REVISITED (rc2.actor)
The modern evolution. The original red couch, integrated into digital worlds, green screens and AI-generated backdrops. The Red Couch Revisited becomes a living, continuously growing platform.
The Exhibition
The archive becomes a physical exhibition. The couch returns to a room full of faces.
ONE COUCH.
ONE IDEA.
MANY STORIES.