August 13 - August 25 2015

Bobby Miller | Michael Anthony Alago | Bobby Busnach | Katrina del Mar | Juan Pablo Echeverri | David Chick

Opening Reception: Friday, August 14, 6-9 pm. The Opening will also feature a very special performances by Gerry Visco at 8pm!

Runn Shayo, An Act of Disappearance, an endurance performance piece. Tuesday, August 18, 8:30 pm.

Tough Girls & Lucid Dreamers, Readings + Performance featuring Katrina del Mar, Bobby Miller, Sarah Greenwood, Karyn Kuhl, Runn Shayo, Anne Stott, and Thalia Zedek. Saturday, August 22, 7 pm.

Bobby Miller

SUPERSTARZ + Profiles

Most of these images were culled from my book “Fabulous! A Photographic Diary of Studio 54” taken at the most famous nightclub of all time during the first 3 years of its existence 1977 to 1979. So many superstars passed through those doors and I was lucky to capture them. Other images like Debra Harry, the lead singer from “Blondie,” Donna Summer, the great Disco era singer, and Chrissteen the most recent punk rock performer were taken elsewhere and more recently.

I chose the title “SUPERSTARZ” because each of these artists do indeed fit into that category. For me a superstar is an artist who has become a household name and are known by millions around the world.

Though the original images were shot in black and white and on 35 mm film, I decided that I wanted to pay homage to my friend Andy Warhol for his own colorful silk screens in which he created the idea of Pop Art by color blocking the background of each photo with vivid colors that I chose for each image.

In this era of “selfies” I chose to include my own self portrait in this collection even though it was shot in 1977 and reflects my excitement during that time period of having photographic access to such great luminaries.

All images are from the original negative format and printed on archival velvet fine art paper and printed with archival inks.

Though Bobby Miller’s work clearly speaks to the greatness of the silkscreen prints by Andy Warhol, I am also moved by them in another way. It’s true that their iconic and glamorous nature is still very palpable, yet these photographs reveal something deeper and entirely more personal. In this sense, I see them as being more akin to Rembrandt’s portrait paintings rather than Warhol’s silkscreens. By exchanging deep umbers for vibrant color, Miller in essence does what Rembrandt did so masterfully, he intimately focuses us on their humanity rather than just their star power. – Debbie Nadolney, AMP Gallery

Bobby Miller is a performance poet, writer, actor and photographer. He is the author of four books of poetry; "Benestrific Blonde", "Mouth of Jane",”Troubleblonde” and "Rigamarole". He has been published in many magazines and periodicals including Verbal Abuse, Vice Magazine, UHF Magazine and the Village Voice. He is included in The 1995 American Book Award winning "Aloud: Voices From The Nuyorican Poets Cafe", "Verses That Hurt; Pleasure And Pain From The Poemfone Poets” and “The Outlaw Bible Of American Poetry”, which was listed on the top ten Poetry National Bestseller List. Mr. Miller’s book, "Fabulous! A Photographic Diary Of Studio 54", 144 black and white photographs with text, was published by St. Martin's Press in September 1998, He is also the author “A Downtown State of Mind: NYC 1973 – 1983”, “Wigstock in Black & White: 1985 – 2005”, “Jackie 60 Nights”, “Amina”, “Queer Nation”, “PORTRAITS: Volumes 1 – 3”, ”Ptown Peeps” Volumes 1 , 2 and 3, “Forget Them Not”, ”Fetish and Fairytale Folk”, “Diva’s, Dudes & Dandies”, and “Fabulous! A Photographic Diary of Studio 54: REDUX”.

His work has been exhibited in NYC, Palm Springs and Provincetown at AMP Gallery, Patty DeLuca Gallery and Woodman Shimko Gallery. Bobby has been taking photographs since 1974. He studied photography with Lisette Model in 1976 in NYC at The New School during the last year of her life.

Michael Anthony Alago

Even Gods Dream

“I have loved photographs as far back as I can remember. I always wanted to look at family albums and see what stories were being told through the mostly black and white images. As I got older I started to carry around a Kodak 110 plastic camera and later a Polaroid camera. I took pictures of everything from rock and roll to erotic images of my 'one night stands' .. Later on after quitting the music business, where I was a producer for many years, I devoted my time to shooting images of my favorite subject...men! I would shoot with my trusty Polaroid and later digital cameras and now with the iPhone and Hipstamatic app as well. My images are strong and not glossy in any way whatsoever. I think they are straightforward rugged and erotically charged. I loves muscles and scars and tattoos and that’s my focus when looking for a man to shoot.”

Michael Anthony Alago, a seminal producer and talent scout for nearly 20 years, has become a household name in the music industry for his expertise in a variety of musical genres. In addition to discovering Metallica, Alago has accumulated a roster that includes such diverse artists as Michael Feinstein, Johnny Rotten, White Zombie, and Nina Simone. “Recording with the incomparable Nina was my finest hour,” says Michael, who worked with Simone on her final album, the critically acclaimed “A Single Woman.” 2010 saw Alago team up with Cyndi Lauper on her Grammy-nominated album “Memphis Blues,” for which he served as A&R executive.

Alago left the music business in the summer of 2003 to concentrate on another lifelong passion—photography. Working initially with a Polaroid camera, Michael embarked on a series of stark, erotic male portraits—a series that continues to this day. While these images of friends, models and bodybuilders feature the muscular physique, tattoos, and attitude that define this particular male subset, they also bear Alago’s distinctive stamp of irreverent heat. A collection of his work entitled “Rough Gods” was self-published to great acclaim in 2005, which led international publisher Bruno Gmunder to sign Michael up and to publish his coffee-table books, “Brutal Truth” and “Beautiful Imperfections”. Most recently, Michael collaborated with “Life of Agony” singer Mina Caputo on a book of poems, observations and rants called “Night Blooming Jasmine Will Never Smell The Same,” which was published in the fall of 2010.

Alago has exhibited in New York, Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Montreal, and Toronto, and continues to photograph rough gods wherever he may find them.

In 2015 there is documentary being made about Michael called “WHO THE F**K IS THAT GUY?, The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago." The film speaks of his 24 years in music with all the ups and downs of a music executive as well his battles with addiction, HIV and his recovery and reinvention as a published photographer. A fascinating and cautionary tale.

Bobby Busnach

Fags Hags and Wannabees: Scenes of Tribal Grit, Glam & Camp from the 70s

“Throughout the 70’s I photographed my friends as family. Those portraits and group shots reflected the times, as well as our lives. Most of that family of friends have not survived. I am a survivor, and feel an obligation to speak for my friends and for what was important to us, as well as for the many others of my generation who have passed before their time. I am concerned that the truth of what has come before us will be obliterated and forgotten, just as I myself may be forgotten when my time comes. As I move closer to that time I am overwhelmed by the imagery from my life, particularly from the 60’s and 70’s, and from the early days of our fighting in the streets for Gay Rights, Women’s Liberation, or Black Power, all of which directs who I am today and how I still see the world. In my work I utilize sexual politics, gender-fuck, iconic imagery, personal experience, as well as political statement in a way that I hope brings that work into a timelessness, today, yesterday, as well as tomorrow. Marilyn Monroe, to me, is a timeless icon, a perfect example of someone who fought and struggled to achieve the American Dream only to have it snatched from her grasp. I feel that inside all of us is a little bit of that innocence and sensuality, as well as a vulnerability and fear of being alone while surrounded by millions of people. My silk screens, photos, collages, writings, remixes… allow me to make peace with, rather than to run from, my ghosts, and to confront my own great fear of being alone though surrounded by a world of millions of people.”

Bobby Busnach was born on September 16, 1955, in Cambridge MA. He grew up in the federally funded low-income housing projects of Washington Elms where during the day the other kids beat him up for being a "sissy," while his mother Bea would finish the job at night. Regularly beaten and humiliated into submission, Bobby would escape into the world around him. Sneaking into downtown Boston from the age of seven, he would explore his surroundings, realizing there was more to life than the prison-like existence at home. A misfit, he was inspired by his mother Bea's Liz Taylor-Cleopatra-inspired black eyeliner, jet-black foot-high beehives and beige lipstick, as well as the mod “Pop” culture of the 1960’s; the teenage Beach Blanket movies, the sounds of James Brown, Motown, and the revolutionary and empowering Beatles, all the while dreaming of his idol, Marilyn Monroe. His parents divorced when he was 6, and it wasn't long before Bobby would often wake cuddled up to a half-naked man sprawled out beside him after one of his mother's numerous weekend-long parties.

When he was 10, his parents made the mistake of remarrying and moved the family unit to Boyertown, Pennsylvania, a small rural town populated by the Pennsylvania Dutch and farmers. Deep in the ‘country’, this city boy found himself even more a misfit than he had been in the projects of Cambridge. Along with a dismal social life, the atmosphere at home was tumultuous -- Bea and Bob were miserable and took it out on the kids. Embracing the 1960’s counter-culture, he rebelled, fought with his teachers, smoked pot and tripped on acid, and started to run away from home at the age of 12. His parents soon committed him to Wernersville State Mental Hospital, where the nurses sedated him with large doses of Thorazine to prevent him from inciting further riots in the young adult unit. After a year as a patient, Bobby returned home but ran away almost immediately to join a gang of hippies at Confront, a drug rehab center where the treatment for residents consisted of Arthur Janov's Primal Scream group therapy.

After a year of peace, love, and primal scream, now 15, Bobby hitchhiked back to Boston where decked out in his A. Smile baggies and 6-inch platforms, the glitter boy lived on the streets of Boston and Cambridge, hustling on Commonwealth Ave. to survive. He "came out" of his closet that year and became a regular at the Other Side, a gay bar frequented by fags, hags, drags, dykes, and wannabees, not to mention pimps, hos, hustlers, and criminals, a world also documented by fellow habitué, photographer Nan Goldin. These ‘dregs-of-society’ became Bobby’s family. After a disappointing summer in San Francisco, where he and his best friend Geraldine had hitch-hiked searching in vain for hippies and a scene as exciting as the Other Side, in 1973 the two moved to an apartment opposite the Dakota on the Upper West Side of New York City. Influenced by Bowie, Fellini, Warhol, Hurrell, Helmut Newton, European Vogue, Disco and the classic films of old Hollywood, Bobby began documenting the times and family of friends through photography. The photographs were carefully staged; much time was spent creating the perfect look with clothing, lighting, and makeup, taking pictures through the night and into the morning to the accompaniment of pounding disco music and Quaaludes.

New York City during the 1970s was in a financial crisis. The rents were low and life was lived on the edge. Post-Stonewall and pre-AIDS, the scene was one of nonstop sex and partying, with the threat of danger always in the air. Busnach spent his days tracking down Marilyn Monroe art to add to his collection (which has grown to a vast collection of signed and limited edition works by important artists and photographers) while taking lessons from a 70-something Hungarian ballet maestro in the Ansonia Hotel, and studying jazz with Alvin Ailey, and modern dance with Martha Graham. At night, he worked as a DJ in the clubs and a remixer in the studio, or to make a few extra bucks hustled tricks on Third Avenue, and then would hustle the night away (the dance) with friends at discos like Hollywood (the site of the old 60’s Peppermint Lounge), galaxy 21, and The Gallery. After 8 years of living together, fag hag Geraldine threw Busnach out of their apartment when she fell in love with the homo downstairs.

This marked the end, with one exception, to Bobby's picture taking for the next 25 years. He then moved to a basement apartment in the South Bronx, nicknamed "Fort Apache" for being the most dangerous neighborhood in New York City, but was soon robbed of all of his DJ equipment. He was forced to move back to Boston in 1982, but after three years saved enough money to move back to New York, to Coney Island. He tried his hand at a number of professions including 15 years as a makeup artist, running a design business on 7th Avenue, setting up a cosmetics and wig department at Canal Jean -- before Pat Fields got the idea. He managed a few coffee bars and was a general manager for Krispy Kreme, but never held a job longer than a year. Finally the lifelong depression took over, and he allowed himself to be put on heavy-duty medications. Misdiagnosed and on the wrong meds, through a pill-induced haze (though never getting even a buzz), he became a recluse, didn't leave the house for four long years, and lost everything.

Finally, the city marshals came knocking on his door and he was again forced to move back to Boston, where he took up residence with his 60-something gay aunt, Priscilla. He weaned himself off the medication and after a few years the cloud started to lift. Slowly but surely Bobby began to gain the strength to re-enter the world outside. After 25 years of ignoring his need to express himself visually, and lacking an outlet for his ‘voice,’ at the age of 50, with only a 9th grade education, he completed his GED, and was accepted into Bunker Hill Community College as a Fine Arts major. There, for the first time since 1980, he began again to take photographs and to branch out into other media as well. He won first prize in their annual art show and was put on full scholarship. But realizing the limitations of a 2–Year College, Bobby gave up his scholarship and transferred to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where he double-majored in both photography and printmaking, and graduated with Honors and Distinction, along with Departmental Honors in Printmaking in May 2010. Today, having finally found his ‘voice’ and a way to express that voice through photography, silkscreen, painting, collage, music (Bobby has recently started to remix again), and writing (his autobiography, as well as the story of the Other Side}, Bobby Busnach is picking up where he left off, but with an education, a new outlook, and a lifetime of experience. "I am a survivor," say’s Bobby, “but now it's time to succeed..."

Katrina del Mar

Feral Women

With Feral Women I continue to explore the theme of wild women who break with convention, an obsession of mine since childhood. The wildness in women, sometimes overt, sometimes subtle is, for me, a manifestation of innate inestimable power and therefore a source of the divine. Large scale, hi octane, full color, super-saturated photographs could be scenes from forgotten, fantastic films. The high hard femme, the bad girl, the rocker, the biker, the surfer, are icons of a new feminist pantheon.

Katrina del Mar is a New York-based photographer, video artist, writer, and award-winning film director. Her work has been described as “beautiful” exuding an “intimate chemistry” and also as “filth of the highest quality.” Katrina herself has been described as a “major league cutie,” “a wild woman,” “the Lesbian Russ Meyer,” and “apparently, the lesbian stepchild of Kenneth Anger.” Her solo exhibition GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS, first presented at Participant Inc. in New York City, was shown at AMP Gallery in the summer season of 2013. Likewise, her solo exhibition Summer Sang in Me, first presented at Strange Loop Gallery in New York City was exhibited at AMP Gallery in 2014. In 2012, Katrina presented a series of films and photographs from the Golden Age of Performance Art (1988-2000) On the Edge of Society: Moments in Live Art, at Warehouse 9, Copenhagen, Denmark. Her solo exhibition, Gangs of New York, was presented in 2010 at Wrong Weather Gallery in Porto, Portugal. Invited to teach at the University of the Arts in Bremen, Germany, she conducted the first ever Queer Trash Feminist Film Workshop, also in 2010. Katrina has shown her critically acclaimed Girl Gang Trilogy of films internationally, including venues such as the Museum for Contemporary Art (CAPC), Bordeaux, France, the Fringe Film Festival, London, UK, 2012; Nightingale Cinema, co-presented by Chicago Underground Film Festival, the MoMA Dome 2 in Rockaway Beach, and Bio Paradis, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Katrina’s work has garnered numerous awards including a fellowship in video from the New York Foundation for the Arts, “Best Experimental Film” from the Planet Out Short Movie Awards announced at the Sundance Film Festival, the 2010 Accolade Award of Merit, and Winner of Juried Competition, Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA, 2012.

Katrina is currently at work on a “non-linear, semi surreal” documentary-style web series called DelMarvelous: A Day in the Life, Katrina del Mar, which will be screened at AMP during this year's Provincetown International Film Festival.

Katrina del Mar is perhaps best known for her decades-long work in video and photography, chronicling the reality and illusion of her Lower East Side friends and lovers as punk heroines; or within her girl gang movie world of strictly female population. Creating a family tree indebted equally to B-movies and diaristic photography, del Mar’s defiantly queer photographs and videos are iconic alternatives to the cultural status quo, offering an exuberant, hyper-stylized sexuality, an unapologetic feminist voice, and often guerilla-style production tactics. -Participant Inc.

Juan Pablo Echeverri

Daily Passport Photos, Since June 2000, work in progress

Juan Pablo Echeverri was born in 1978 in Bogotá, Colombia, where he currently lives and works. His work has been part of numerous group and solo show in galleries and museums around the world, such as The Photographers Gallery in London, The Havana Biennial in Cuba, Itau Cultural in Sao Paulo, Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá among others. He has taken part of Residencies in England, Mexico and Brazil, and his work has been included in publications such as Younger than Jesus Directory published by the New Museum and PHAIDON in 2009, and his work is part of the permanent collection of Banco de la República in Colombia and CA2M in Madrid, Spain as well as other private collections. He was recently a Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

David Chick

Holly Woodlawn, Warhol Superstar

David Chick’s Holly Woodlawn photographs came about as a result of his close friendship with Woodlawn. "I first saw Holly Woodlawn in Paul Morrisey's film “Trash” and fell in love with her character, a scrappy fast talking low-life who's full of charm...she's a survivor, and I identified with her character very much - never for one second thinking that I would ever get to know her. I later met and developed a close friendship with Holly, where we both took care of and looked out for one another. I can say that I learned something different from Holly almost every day, and found her to be a good friend with a big heart and a determined spirit. The photos that I took were from outings that we made in LA in 2012 and 2013.”

David Chick is an artist and photographer. Originally from Boston, he has made his home in New York City and Los Angeles. He washed ashore in Provincetown, and has spent the last five summers here exploring his creativity as well as exhibiting his work. He attended Montserrat College of Visual Art, Majoring in Fine Art; Parsons School of Design, studying Fashion; New England School of Art, UCLA, studying painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy. He has a passion for Art and enjoys being in an environment where he is always learning and growing as an artist.

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