SPAIN & 42 ST.
2015-01-19SPAIN & 42 ST. is the title of a William S. Burroughs cut-up poem that transforms found fragments of text into a new whole. The works in the exhibition challenge the narratives of photography and fashion and parallels between them, just as Burroughs constantly challenged the structure of prose. They move beyond expectations of fashion or fine art: they are neither exclusively one nor the other. Each is a cut-up in itself and within the context of the exhibition.
The theme of portraiture, both conventional and conceptual, appears throughout. Robert Mapplethorpe’s portraits show his keen fashion editorial eye; his photographs showcase his creative direction as much as his models, including fashion icon Dianne B. Photographs from Darja Balagić’s online porn thumbnail project are presented as abstracted portraits. The works transform pornographic scenes into delicate poses with soft lines and minimal color. Paul Mpagi Sepuya’s studio studies capture the remains of photographic sessions. Fabric is left draped over a chair and on the studio floor; though no one is pictured, their aura persists. Peter Hujar’s photo of artist David Wojnarowicz, though posed for a fashion catalog, catches its subject in an unassuming, candid moment. Also shot for a catalog, Jimmy DeSana’s photograph of a nude and a nearly-nude model turning from the camera while joined at the butt with a coat hanger takes fashion imagery into a radical realm of desire and the absurd.
Opposite – Robert Mapplethorpe Dianne Benson, 1980
Exhibition runs through till January 31st, 2015
Foxy Production
623 W 27 St
NYC 10001 New York
USA
