Photo ©Paris, LA

Josh McNey at Casa de Costa, NYC

Opening Reception on April 29th, 6-10 PM

Speaking about the exhibition McNey said, “Being afraid of my sexuality made me afraid to stare. I didn’t want to be ‘caught’ looking at guys.  I think this teenage strategy of visual chastity made it all the more urgent that I find a way to legitimize staring.  Photography became for me both an apparatus and a metaphor for coming out as a gay man. Showing the work is one more step in that direction.”

Photo Josh McNey.

NEW YORK, APRIL 2011 —

Casa de Costa is pleased to announce Protect from Light, a solo photography exhibition by artist Josh McNey.  The show at Casa de Costa marks the debut of the firm’s new salon and studio at 11 Stone Street in historic Lower Manhattan.

Protect from Light features nearly thirty unpublished photographs, including landscapes, still life and portraits primarily from McNey’s work with college wrestlers, professional bull riders and other athletes. Showcasing just some selections from a decade-long practice, Protect from Light provides the first opportunity to see a substantial collection of finished work by the artist. McNey’s landscape and still life work comprises almost half of this exhibition and reminds viewers of the serene beauty of the everyday. The images also evoke questions about the relationship between nature and engineering, the gendering of dominance and submission, and the transience of our daily lives.
Josh McNey grew up in a suburban enclave of Los Angeles, where he developed an early interest in photography; his subjects included his three brothers, the Southern California landscape and small still life arrangements.  At the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the US Marines and served in an elite Force Reconnaissance unit for more than seven years.  During that time he expanded his practice, shooting editorial portraits and increasingly, men. His personal portrait work has evolved into a hybrid of diary and staging, creating what writer Alistair McCartney described as, “the ideal universe inhabited by the ideal boy.” McNey’s male subjects evoke an unmistakable sense of strength and classical beauty tempered by vulnerability.

Josh McNey has lived in various places in the US and now resides in New York City. His portrait work has appeared in Tokion, Out, XLR8R, K48, Paris/LA and other select magazines and has been exhibited in group shows in the US and Europe.

Josh McNey – Protect from Light
April 29 – June 9
Opening Reception on April 29th, 6-10 PM at 11 Stone Street, 6th Floor

Photo Josh McNey.

VIEW ON THE MOUNT FUJI FROM FROM THE 25TH FLOOR OF TOKYU STAY HOTEL.

VIEW ON THE PRADA STORE FROM THE 25TH FLOOR OF TOKYU STAY HOTEL.

PALM TREES.

MORE PALM TREES.

AIRSHIP IN A CLEAR BLUE SKY

QUIET STREET BEHIND BUSY SHIBUYA.

GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON’S AWESOME BIKE

KEIICHI NITTA‘S CAR CUSTOMIZED BY MARK GONZALES.

OSCAR TUAZON AND GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON SHOW AT THE RAT HOLE GALLERY.

NIGHTFALL.

RED LANTERNS.

Photography by dp for ©PARIS, LA taken in Tokyo last December 2010.

(except the O. Tuazon & G E Einarsson show’ picture taken by the Rat Hole Gallery)

Entering a new year, our friend and contributor Martin Krutski, who is currently based in India, shares a photographic portrait of the Capitol Complex located in Chandigarh, the dream city of India’s first Prime Minister, Sh. Jawahar Lal Nehru.

“Chandigarh was planned by the famous French architect Le Corbusier. Picturesquely located at the foothills of Shivaliks, it is known as one of the best experiments in urban planning and modern architecture in the twentieth century in India.

Chandigarh derives its name from the temple of “Chandi Mandir” located in the vicinity of the site selected for the city. The deity ‘Chandi’, the goddess of power and a fort of ‘garh’ laying beyond the temple gave the city its name “Chandigarh-The City Beautiful”.

Le Corbusier conceived the master plan of Chandigarh as analogous to human body, with a clearly defined head (the Capitol Complex, Sector 1), heart (the City Centre Sector-17), lungs ( the leisure valley, innumerable open spaces and sector greens), the intellect (the cultural and educational institutions), the circulatory system (the network of roads, the 7Vs) and the viscera (the Industrial Area). The concept of the city is based on four major functions: living, working, care of the body and spirit and circulation.

The Capital complex comprises three architectural masterpieces: the “Secretariat”, the “High Court” and the “Legislative Assembly”, separated by large piazzas. In the heart of the Capital Complex stands the giant metallic sculpture of The Open Hand, the official emblem of Chandigarh, signifying the city’s credo of “open to give, open to receive”. ” (via the official website of the Chandigarh Administration)

Photography Martin Krutzki for ©PARIS, LA

HEDI SLIMANE
I LOVE USA
LOS ANGELES JUNE 2010
COMMISSIONED BY THECORNER.COM

SIDNEY IS A 15 YO CALIFORNIA GIRL FROM VENICE BEACH. HEDI S. FOUND HER AT COACHELLA FESTIVAL IN 2009. WOLF IS A 15 YO CALIFORNIA BOY FROM LAUREL CANYON. HEDI S FOUND HIM AT COACHELLA FESTIVAL IN 2010. SIDNEY AND WOLF HAD NEVER MET, BUT HAD HEARD OF EACH OTHER. THEY MET ON THE BEACH ON CAMERA WITH HEDI S, FILMING THEIR ENCOUNTER. SIDNEY AND WOLF ARE BOTH SHY AND HARDLY SPOKE TO EACH OTHER. THEY WALKED TOGETHER ON THE BEACH. SIDNEY WAS HOLDING HER POMS POMS, WOLF WAS PLAYING HIS CELLO. THIS IS BEGINNING OF I LOVE U.S.A PROJECT.

IN THE TITLE, I LOVE U.S.A, U.S.A IS ACTUALLY THE NICKNAME HEDI HAD GIVEN TO SIDNEY (U.SIDNEY.A). SHE APPEARS OFTEN ON HEDI S. PHOTOGRAPHIC DIARY, AS THE REPRESENTATION OF CALIFORNIA, HEDI S.’S IDEA OF CALIFORNIA, AND IDEAL CALIFORNIA GIRL. HEDI S. WANTED SIDNEY TO EXPERIMENT WITH HER OWN IDEA OF CHEERLEADING, A TRADITION IN AMERICAN’S YOUTH CULTURE. SIDNEY IMPROVISES IN THIS PIECE, ALONG WOLF, WHO, HIMSELF IMPROVISE ON HIS CIELLO. WOLF WEARS A WOLF HALLOWEEN MASK, AS A TEEN INDIE TRANSPOSITION OF PETER AND THE WOLF, THE PROKOVIEV PIECE, AND THE PETIT CHAPERON ROUGE.

I LOVE U.S.A IS ABOUT A CERTAIN IDEA OF CALIFORNIAN YOUTH AND CULTURE. THIS FILM PROJECT IS RELATED TO HEDI’S BOOK TO COME. IT IS ALSO THE TITLE OF HEDI SLIMANE’ S EXHIBITION OF FEBRUARY 2011 AT GALERIE ALMINE RECH.

I LOVE U.S.A IS STRUCTURED LIKE MOST OF HEDI’S WORK, FOR THE PAST DECADE, AND BASED ON AN ARYTHMIC SYNCHRONISATION.