Gary Schneider : Nudes at the Aperture Foundation Gallery

This week I had a chance to stop in and see the new show at the Aperture Foundation Gallery - their new amazing space in Chelsea at 27th street.

     The first time I saw GARY SCHNEIDER : NUDES, I was wading through the stacks of new books at the ICP shop, my typical exciting Friday night geek activity. Initially I thought the work looked like flat out porn.. but then you realize OMG these are not the typical model beautiful people you'd expect to see posing nude. Then I thought maybe a cross between Andres Serrano's Morgue Series, and film stills from The X-Files. But, the more you look, the single full body portraits seem almost celestial. These images immediately lodge into your photo memory.

      So when I heard there was a full-scale show of the work.. I had to check it out! Well.. Seeing the work first hand was a very different experience!!  All the images are presented in full-frontal life size photos. It's unsettling and powerful.  I had dragged along (as I frequently do) my significant other.. hence forth and forever known on this weblog as Dr. Quiz!  He was a bit less startled than I, and proceeded to ask a few thousand questions. As a Dr. Quiz can only do! Lucky for me.. Mr. Schneider was there that afternoon to fend-off the Inquisition!!   

      Mr. Schneider's process (involving very long exposures and a small flash lite) is impressive, and adds an entire new performance dimension by both photographer and subject to each of the images. In the huge size, the human "subtleties" of their performance really standout.. some more than others!  Additionally.. you might recognize the subjects as some are well known NYC art insiders.. many standing out proud!!

  Anyway.. Both Dr. Quiz and I enjoyed the show. Thanks Gary for signing a book!

Also, The staff at Aperture has some great events planned for Dec, and seeing their new show is only one of the new attractions!