NEW YORK, NY.- Bernarducci Meisel Gallery presenting Vintage Photographs of 1980s Luminaries, MARCUS LEATHERDALE’S first solo exhibition with the Gallery. This show includes work from the artist’s well-known series “Hidden Identities” which was one of the founding monthly features in the original Details magazine of the 1980’s. These photographs explore the possibilities of covert portraiture—hiding the features but focusing on the subject’s personal style and star quality. The diverse group of individuals he presents offer a unique view of the New York City art and socialite scene indicative of this time. From the performer Harris Glenn Milstead, also known as Divine, laying across a bed with seductive, heavily outlined eyes, to Andy Warhol covering his face with his iconic hair still in view, to Jodie Foster poised confidently in baroque fashioned dress, it is clear that LEATHERDALE had an insight into the limelight unlike no other of his time.
Although all the photographs are black and white, some are silver and some are platinum prints. The subtraction of color makes these images timeless and dramatic. Their mood and sensuality reference the qualities of film noir. In Courtesan (Iman) (1987), the Somalian fashion model, actress, and wife of David Bowie is turned away from the camera as she rests on a cheetah print seat with an upright and strong posture evoking Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres’ 1814 painting entitled Grande Odalisque. Her femininity and exoticism are emphasized against the dark background. Iman is recognized for developing the field of ethnic cosmetics yet she is presented here in her natural beauty.
There are also a number of photographs emphasizing the beauty of the male form such as Icarus (2000), Flasher (1984), and Harlequin (Self-Portrait) (1990). Despite the various poses and men pictured, their strikingly carved bronzed bodies are fully exposed and positioned in ways that embody their solid musculature. This was quite controversial timing for such imagery as it was presented at the height of the AIDS epidemic and many gay artists including Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Ross Bleckner used their art practice as a means to spread awareness of this devastating crisis. LEATHERDALE is also a part of this memorable canon of creatives who challenged the boundaries of visual arts and shifted its possibilities into a space of activism and change.
Montreal-born photographer LEATHERDALE has been exhibiting for more than 20 years in galleries worldwide. His work has been reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, and Art News, and is in several museum collections. Since 1993, he has been exclusively working in India, and is currently photographing rural India and the Adivasis/tribals. He divides his time between his estate in India and his Quinta in Portugal.
