Posts by Miss Rosen

Remembrances of Studio 54

Posted on June 13, 2018

Pat Cleveland and Andre Leon Talley. Photo: Copyright Dustin Pittman

Glitz, glam, and glory – Studio 54 had it all. The epicenter of the New York disco scene in the 1970s, the infamous nightclub was a symbol of hedonism – a potent brew of celebrity, sex, drugs, and decadence.

In 1977, co-owners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, converted an old CBS television studio into a magical space where Hollywood stars, fashion designers, performers, socialites, artists, models, and street legends would dance the night away.

For 33 months, Studio 54 made headlines for its outrageous stunts, becoming the stuff of legend until it all came crashing down when Schrager and Rubell were arrested for tax evasion and ended up serving 13 months in prison. In 1989, Rubell died from complications due to AIDS, while Schrager turned his life around, becoming one of the most significant hoteliers of our time. After being pardoned by President Barack Obama in January 2017, Schrager broke his 40-year silence, finally telling the true story of Studio 54.

On Friday (June 15), Studio 54, the first documentary about the famed nightclub will officially release. In celebration of this film, we spoke to its director Matt Tyrnauer and a host of Studio 54 insiders, who share their memories of the endless nights spent partying, rubbing shoulders with everyone from Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and Diana Ross to Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Karl Lagerfeld.

Read the Full Story at AnOther Man

Palmoa Picasso. Photo: Copyright Dustin Pittman

Categories: 1970s, AnOther Man, Art, Fashion, Manhattan, Music, Photography

This is No Dream: Making Rosemary’s Baby

Posted on June 13, 2018

Mia Farrow. Photography by Bob Willoughby © MPTV Images / Reel Art Press

In 1968, film director Roman Polanski brought Rosemary’s Baby to life and forever changed the way we imagine horror films. In a genre best known for its gruesome and grisly tropes, Rosemary’s Baby made the realm of the supernatural all too plausible in a delectable mixture of the mystical and the mundane.

The exquisitely cinematic film, which moves at a dreamlike pace, takes place inside New York’s stately Dakota building on 72nd Street and Central Park South, where a coven of witches decides to impregnate a young Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) with the child of Satan. Rosemary’s Baby is meticulously crafted so that every moment slowly unfolds in an exquisite tension that denies release until a denouement so quiet you realise there is no escape.

Yet, despite – or perhaps because of – the aesthetic perfection of Polanski’s work, the film production was a horror story all its own, one that is meticulously recounted in This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary’s Baby by James Munn (Reel Art Press). Set for release on June 12, the 50th anniversary of the legendary film, the book takes behind the scenes and on to the set, where drama was ever present.

“There was never a dull moment,” set photographer Bob Willoughby observes, as his photos help to convey the dark undercurrents at work. Although Polanski was riding high, at the height of his stardom while making this film, his countless scheduling delays put his job in jeopardy. At the same time, actor John Cassavetes, who co-starred as Guy Woodhouse, was ready to fight Polanski over creative differences.

Read the Full Story at AnOther Online

Categories: 1960s, AnOther, Books, Photography

Stanley Kubrick: Through a Different Lens

Posted on June 13, 2018

Stanley Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick with Faye Emerson from “Faye Emerson: Young Lady in a Hurry”, 1950. © Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick was just 17 years old when he became a staff photographer for Look, one of the biggest large format photo magazines of the ’40s. The Bronx native was a natural behind the camera, capturing scenes of everyday life that perfectly prefigured the intense sensibilities that would come to define his films.

In the era when Weegee ruled the New York photo scene, Kubrick began to carve out a space for himself, shooting the common man and woman as they went about the business of modern life in the years immediately following World War II. Although the scenes could be pedestrian, his photographs were anything but – as Kubrick skillfully crafted a palpable sense of intensity, drama, and tension that made every picture vibrate with life.

Rarely seen photographs from Kubrick’s work for Look at the subject of Through a Different Lens, a new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York and book published by Taschen. Here, we travel with Kubrick over a period of five years, as he traverses the streets of New York, bringing us onto the movie set, under the big top, into the boxing ring, and backstage on Broadway to get a look at extraordinary lives as they unfolded.

Read the Full Story at Huck Online

Stanley Kubrick, from “Life and Love on the New York City Subway”, 1947. © Stanley Kubrick

Categories: Art, Books, Exhibitions, Huck, Manhattan, Photography

Joseph Rodriguez: Spanish Harlem – El Barrio in the 80s

Posted on June 11, 2018

Skeely Street Game, Spanish Harlem, New York, 1987. © Joseph Rodriguez Courtesy Galerie Bene Taschen.

In the wake of World War I, Puerto Rican and Latin American immigrants first began arriving in New York, settling in a little corner of upper Manhattan around 110th Street and Lexington Avenue, which is now known as Spanish Harlem. With a foothold firmly established in El Barrio, the neighborhood blossomed after World War II, when a new wave of immigration transformed the face of the city.

By 1960, some 63,000 Puerto Ricans called Spanish Harlem home, bringing the culture of the Caribbean to the northern climes. With bodegas and botánicas catering to the culinary and spiritual needs of the people, Spanish Harlem became an enclave unto itself.

But the land of the free was hardly this to the immigrants who faced a system of exclusion that kept them in a state of poverty. By 1970, Nixon aide Daniel Patrick Moynihan established a policy of “benign neglect” that deprived Latinx and African-American communities nationwide of basic government systems. Add to this a drug war started by the Nixon White House to flood these neighborhoods with heroin in order to destabilize and criminalize the population, and the results were devastating.

By the late 1980s, after crack made its way through the streets, the people of Spanish Harlem were struggling with rampant crime, addiction, and poverty. At the same time, AIDS was taking innocent lives while the Reagan White House turned a blind eye on a plague that was disproportionately harming the Latinx and African American communities.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Puerto Rican-American photographer Joseph Rodriguez became familiar Spanish Harlem as a child, when he traveled uptown to visit his uncle who had a candy shop in El Barrio. Like many of his generation, he fell victim to the heroin epidemic and ended up incarcerated on Rikers Island for drug possession during the early 1970s.

Read the Full Story at Feature Shoot

Categories: 1980s, Art, Books, Exhibitions, Manhattan, Photography

Ricky Flores: The Puerto Rican Day Parade

Posted on June 10, 2018

After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the official death count was reported as 64 people. But last week, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study with a conservative estimate of 4,645 dead in what was the second most devastating tropical cyclone in U.S. history since 1900.

The new report underscores the government’s failure to help its citizens when they needed it most. The response to Maria dishearteningly echoes a past disaster—how Nixon’s White House policies of “benign neglect” leveled the streets of Puerto Rican neighborhoods in New York City, reducing them to rubble and dirt.

At that time, photographer Ricky Flores lived in the Longwood section of the South Bronx, an area infamously known as “Fort Apache” after the 1981 film of that name. A first generation Puerto Rican-American, Flores came of age as his once-thriving community was being systematically decimated by the government, and as Puerto Ricans began organizing to fight for what was rightfully theirs.

Puerto Rican pride is an integral part of New York’s diverse populace. Every year on the second Sunday in June, the community comes together on Fifth Avenue to celebrate with the Puerto Rican Day Parade. In advance of the 60th annual parade on June 10, Flores spoke with VICE about how Puerto Ricans have the power to change the course of history.

Read the Full Story at VICE Online

Categories: 1980s, Art, Bronx, Latin America, Manhattan, Photography, Vice

Letso Leipego: Tell My Story

Posted on June 7, 2018

Bed Time Stories, 2015. © Letso Leipego, courtesy of Guns & Rain

My Grandfather, 2017. © Letso Leipego, courtesy of Guns & Rain

Shortly after independence in 1966, Botswana was ranked one of the poorest nations in Africa. Yet, over the past 50 years, the southern African nation has risen to become one of the world’s fastest growing economies with flourishing mining, cattle, and tourist industries.

One of the most sparsely populated nations on earth, Botswana is home to just two million people, most of whom live in the challenging environmental conditions of the semi-arid countryside. It’s here, in these remote corners of the nation, that photographer Letso Leipego journeys to create a series of portraits for a project he began in 2014 titled Tell My Story.

Hailing from the national capital of Gaborone, Leipego recognised a strong interest in the native Tswana culture from both tourists and social media. He then focused his energies on developing a series of portraits that reveal the majesty of the people, the dramatic beauty of the land, and the powerful synergy that occurs when they are in harmony together.

Read the Full Story at Huck Online

The Shepherd, 2016. © Letso Leipego, courtesy of Guns & Rain

Giving Thanks, 2016. © Letso Leipego, courtesy of Guns & Rain

Categories: Africa, Huck, Photography

Celebrating Bill Cunningham

Posted on June 7, 2018

Photo: Bill Cunningham October 1974

Bill Cunningham was more than a photographer – he was a social anthropologist documenting the interplay between fashion, the street, and high society over the course of four decades for The New York Times. Outfitted in his signature blue worker’s jacket, Cunningham hopped on his trusted bicycle and sped around the city, hopping off to photograph New York’s most stylish figures from all walks of life before returning to his humble apartment at Carnegie Hall.

His love of glamour, style, and grace had existed since the early days of his childhood, where he fawned over women’s hats during Sunday church services. In 1948, at the age of 19, he dropped out of Harvard University after just two months and moved to New York City to give life in fashion a go. He launched a line of hats under the name ‘William J’, and by the 1950s his clientele included no less than Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Bouvier, and Katherine Hepburn.

Although Cunningham lived a spare, simple life, his creations were anything but. His love of grandeur and glamour are present everywhere in his work — from his exquisite hats to Façades, an early art project he did with Editta Sherman, also known as the ‘Duchess of Carnegie Hall’. From 1968 to 1976, they created a series of photographs featuring Editta and other models wearing vintage costumes posing in front of Manhattan landmarks dating to the same period.

When Façades was completed, Cunningham gave a selection of 88 gelatin silver prints from the series to the New-York Historical Society, launching a lifelong relationship with the organisation that spanned the next 40 years. After his death, his friends began donating Cunningham’s personal effects to the Society, giving us a rare glimpse into the life of a man who maintained an incredible balance between the public and private spheres.

In honour of one of fashion’s greatest documentarians, the New-York Historical Society will present Celebrating Bill Cunningham, an exhibition of objects and rare ephemera, along with a selection of work from Façades, from June 8. Here, we speak with exhibition curator Debra Schmidt Bach, as well as John Kurdewan, Cunningham’s collaborator at The New York Times, artist Paul Caranicas, and filmmaker James Crump, to illuminate the life of the man behind the camera.

Read the Full Story at Dazed

Façades’, Editta Sherman, Subway. Photography Bill Cunningham

Categories: Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Fashion, Photography

Lorna Simpson: Collages

Posted on June 5, 2018

Earth & Sky #30, 2016. By Lorna Simpson, From Lorna Simpson Collages, Chronicle Books 2018.

It is a point of beauty, pride, power, and politicisation, but black hair has also long been a target for racial bias and discrimination. On May 16, the United States supreme court refused to hear the case of Chastity Jones, an African-American woman whose job offer from Catastrophe Management Solutions (CMS) in Alabama was rescinded when she refused to shear off her locs. CMS maintained that this traditional black hairstyle, which holds spiritual significance for some who wear it, was not in compliance with the company’s policy.

The supreme court effectively denied Jones and others who wear locs protection under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws any form of discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin. The court’s rebuff ensures that employers and schools can continue to deny black men and women access on the basis of their hair – be it worn in dreads, afros, or any design that is not “in compliance” with racially determined standards of appearance.

While the court sidesteps responsibility to its citizens, African-American artist Lorna Simpson restores pride and power to the people. Born in 1960, Simpson came of age as the flames of the Black Power and Pan-African movements blazed bright, the images of “Black is Beautiful,” which embraced black hair and African features, became an integral part of her aesthetic sensibility.

Read the Full Story at AnOther Online

For Rose, 2013. By Lorna Simpson, From Lorna Simpson Collages, Chronicle Books 2018.

Categories: AnOther Man, Art, Books

Jamel Shabazz: Inside the New York Correction Department

Posted on June 1, 2018

After serving his time in the army, a 20-year-old Jamel Shabazz returned to his native New York. It was 1980, and Shabazz had taken up the practice of street photography as a means to connect with young men and women throughout the city. He used his lens to engage with strangers who caught his eye, speaking with them about the power of choosing the righteous path in life. After they finished their conversation, he would take their portrait to document this moment in time, creating an archive of work that taken the world by storm since Shabazz first began publishing his work in The Source magazine and exhibiting in Paris during the late 90s.

The author of eight books including A Time Before Crack, Seconds of My Life (powerHouse Books, 2005 and 2007) and Sights in the City (Damiani, 2017), Shabazz is dedicated to depicting the complexities of contemporary life, capturing the triumphs and tragedies of everyday people trying to survive, and sharing stories rarely seen from the inside looking out.

What Shabazz has witnessed and lived goes beyond what most people know both of his work and of life itself. Shabazz joined the New York Corrections Department at the tender age of 23 in 1983, working on Rikers Island, in the Manhattan Criminal Court building, and in mental health facilities. He served the full 20 years on the force with the understanding that he could best help his community working within the belly of the beast.

As a corrections officer, Shabazz bore witness to the devastating impact of the crack epidemic during the 1980s and 90s, when African-American and Latinx communities were disproportionately impacted by the vicious cycle of addiction, violence, and incarceration under the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws which destroyed families and devastated a new generation coming-of-age. At the same time, he had to negotiate the reality for black men and women inside the penal system, where injustice and racism often went hand-in-hand.

With the understanding that he was fulfilling a personal calling, Shabazz mentored countless inmates, always keeping the faith despite being in a volatile environment where injustice, violence, and trauma were a regular part of the job. Photography became a means for Shabazz to decompress and reconnect with himself, the people, and the environment – both within and outside of Rikers Island – and became a form of visual medicine to help heal the injured and protect the vulnerable from harm.

Below, Shabazz, who was recently honoured with a 2018 Gordon Parks Foundation Award, speaks with us about his experiences as a New York Corrections Officer.

Read the Full Story at Dazed

Categories: 1980s, 1990s, Art, Dazed, Photography

Albert Watson: The Eye

Posted on June 1, 2018

L: Christopher Makos, Altered Image, Andy with Black Hair, Holding a Mirror, New York, 1981. Photo © Christopher Makos. R: Anton Corbijn, Damien Hirst, 2011. Photo © Anton Corbijn © The Eye by Fotografiska, to be published by teNeues in May 2018

For art lovers, visiting Fotografiska, the photography museum in Stockholm, is a must. Unlike traditional institutions, Fotografiska bills itself as a meeting place where everything revolves around photography. But the museum is highly regarded for staging exhibitions of work by world-renowned photographers, many who’ve never shown in Sweden, as well as emerging talents.

Fotografiska is in the process of expanding its international presence, opening new locations in London and New York in early 2019. To commemorate the new outposts, the museum just released The Eye by Fotografiska (teNeues), a monumental photography book featuring work by artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, Ren Hang, Gus Van Sant, and Annie Leibovitz, among many more. Featuring more than 250 photos by about 80 photographers, the book is a love letter to the camera and the way it transforms how we perceive the world.

Scottish photographer Albert Watson appreciates the power of photography more than most. Over five decades, he has established himself as a master of the medium, working across all genres. Whether photographing Michael Jackson for the cover of Invincible or Tupac for Juice, Watson has been creating iconic images since 1973, when he shot his first professional portrait of Alfred Hitchcock wringing the neck of a rubber chicken.

Watson wrote a rare essay, published in The Eye, reflecting on the elements that make a photograph unforgettable. VICE caught up with him recently to talk about the power of the medium, at a time when nearly everyone with a smartphone holds the power to create images and distribute them instantaneously.

Read the Full Story at Vice Online

Albert Watson, ‘Monkey with Gun, New York’, 1992

Categories: Art, Books, Photography, Vice

Erin M. Riley: Used Tape

Posted on May 30, 2018

“Things Left Behind” (2016). Courtesy Erin M. Riley and P.P.O.W.

With the election of Donald Trump, a powerful unravelling began – not just of the morals and ethics of the US government but of the tightly laced silence around sexual assault. For American textile artist Erin M. Riley, the election cycle was “a bizarre turning point,” sparking conversations with her mother and sisters about horrific encounters that they had kept secret from one another.

“It’s been a lot of sobbing,” Riley says with the calm and steady voice of a woman who has faced her demons and lived to tell the tale. “I’ve been through a lot of reflection about my experiences as well as other people: parents, siblings, family members, or in the media. I wanted to talk about how relationships start and evolve, along with the traumatic experiences that exist all at once. There’s no either/or. You can be turned on one day and then afraid the next.”

Reflecting on the multiplicity of experiences that inform identity, Riley took to the loom to weave meticulously crafted tapestries, detailing intimate scenes of womanhood in her new exhibition, Used Tape, at P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York (May 31 – June 30, 2018). Here, the artist presents a series of work that taps into memory, fantasy, masturbation, dating, self-care, food, pop culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence, to reclaim her power while simultaneously negotiating the impact of trauma with sensitivity and respect.

Read the Full Story at Dazed

“Violation” (2017). Courtesy Erin M. Riley and P.P.O.W.

Categories: Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Women