2 Photo Shows to check out.. James Bidgood @ ClampArt, and Brian Ulrich @ Julie Saul
Both, James Bidgood at ClampArt, and the Brian Ulrich at the Julie Saul Gallery are 2 NYC photography shows not to be missed. This Thursday, both openings were completely jammed, and for good reason.
Our friends over at AFC.. have already wisely posted on the Brian Ulrich, Copia show.. clearly, good news travels fast!
More reviews to follow as we find them.. This was our favorite photo from the show (Photo #1 : Granger, IN) Yes.. we know, some of these are very Andres Gursky-ish.. but Brian lives in the great American cultural wasteland Mid-west.... so give the guy a break, plus that's a compliment! Really... it is!
In fact you might almost say, Brian's witty social commentary on the our fucked up US Consumer culture..is right on Target!!
Also.. if you don't have one yet.. Aperture published a kick-ass nifty book of Brian's work...MP3... plus you can see more at his own thoughtful, not if but when.. web-blog..
So if you like the work of Pierre et Gilles, Charles Ludlam, the "Theatre of the Ridiculous", or even the Follies Bergere... then you should love the photographic work of James Bidgood at ClampArt.
The work is lush, rich, sexy, sugar sweet, over the top, super gay, and at times completely hysterical.. Plus, many a contemporary color photographer owes a debt of gratitude to James Bidgood.. This show consists of elaborate stylized sets and costumes, where James create whimsical (aka.. gay/homo erotic!) staged stories. What's more amazing, these were almost all created in his tiny east village apartment in the 1960's.
To put it mildly, James was a pioneer, only to be copied refined by the likes of Gregory Crewdson, Oliver Boberg, Thomas Demand, just to name drop a few... Also featured in the show is James Bidgood's 1971 underground cult fantasy film Pink Narcissus.
We found this interview with James and Sean Fredric Edgecomb..about the film.. So, If there's one word to describe this show... it's FAAAAABULOUS!! Of Course!
FYI.. the original 1999 Taschen published, Bidgood monograph is becoming hard to come by.. Just try to find one for under $75.. good luck!
I love Brian's work and can't wait to see the show.
I wish I had some witty thing to say to add some flavor to this comment but that's all I've got, just that I can't wait to see the show.
Posted by: ZS | January 09, 2007 at 08:45 PM
I love Brian's work and can't wait to see the show.
I wish I had some witty thing to say to add some flavor to this comment but that's all I've got, just that I can't wait to see the show.
Posted by: ZS | January 09, 2007 at 08:47 PM
I really liked the show at Julie's a lot! Hope to see you guys soon!
Posted by: patrick | January 11, 2007 at 10:29 AM
For another view of malls in America, see the photo essay,
"Mall-aise", at www.efn.org/~hkrieger/mallaise.htm
Herman Krieger
Posted by: Herman Krieger | March 01, 2007 at 05:37 PM