Mother Daughter Holy Spirit Throws a Star-Studded Trans Rights Fundraiser

photography by Fernando Palafox
text by Karly Quadros

Last weekend, Mother Daughter Holy Spirit closed out their three-part fundraiser for the Trans Justice Funding Project with a celebrity-filled bash at Gitano NYC. The party was a veritable who’s who of New York City’s queer underground and nightlife royalty, brining together everyone from film stars Chloë Sevigny and Naomi Watts (and her daughter, model Kai Schreiber) to cult favorites Julio Torres and Richie Shazam to art world darling Tourmaline and supermodel Alex Consani.

“It’s funny, we called Holy Spirit the final event, and that’s how we planned it. But being there, in the energy of it all, it didn’t feel like an ending. It felt like a beginning,” said co-founder John Mollet.

The night’s events rounded out a flurry of fundraising events as trans rights are increasingly under attack under this administration. Mother Daughter Holy Spirit, which was co-founded by John Mollet and Bobbi Salvör Menuez, began with a runway show featuring Alex Consani, Richie Shazam, and more stomping the runway in clothing from the likes of Vaquera, Willie Chavaria, and Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen. Next came a pop-up boutique and online store stocked with garments donated from celebrities like Chloë Sevigny and Hari Nef, with some custom artist t-shirts peppered in for good measure.

Holy Spirit was the group’s largest event yet, scaling up from 200 attendees to over 600 dancing the night away in view of the East River. The crowd was largely trans, a mishmash of underground art legends, it girls, theater kids, and militant leftists all dancing under glittering chandeliers and palm trees. Christeene confronted the crowd with her raw, transgressive drag, while Juliana Huxtable and Fashion bumped pounding dance tunes all night long.

“[Gitano] was an unexpected choice for a crowd that often piles into dark and dank Brooklyn warehouses, but we wanted it to feel glamorous, elevated, even a bit reminiscent of the days when the queers and the artists and the yuppies all partied together at Studio 54 — a New York Moment, but this time, with a special focus on celebrating trans people as culture makers, change makers, and invaluable members of our world,” said head of production Lio Mehil.

So far, Mother Daughter Holy Spirit has raised over $50,000 in funds for trans-led grassroots organizations across the country, with additional closet and t-shirt sales scheduled in the coming weeks. In a time when the need for resources and material support for the trans community is more essential than ever, trans joy and self-expression were front and center at Holy Spirit.

“I’m not a trans person, and maybe this sounds selfish, but I truly believe my world, our world, becomes better when trans people have full equality. The trans people I’ve known throughout my life have brought forward a kind of strength, empathy, and clarity that the world desperately needs… I envision a society that seeks trans wisdom more deliberately and more often. I feel so deeply grateful to be part of a project that says to trans people: you are seen, appreciated, and loved,” said Mollet.

Explore the party with exclusive photography from Fernando Palafox.

I Like the Party Life: Malick Sidibé at Jack Shainman Gallery

A new exhibit at the New York gallery features never-before-seen images from the Malian photographer.

 
 



text by Karly Quadros


Best known for his exuberant photographs of discos and house parties in Bamako, Mali the ‘60s and ‘70s, Malick Sidibé defined a post-colonial visual aesthetic of joyful resistance. The people in Sidibé’s photos put their best foot forward, literally. They pose in their Sunday best in Sidibé’s studio, located in the Bagadaji neighborhood, which in its heyday was a hub for photographic culture. They twist and shout. They ride motorcycles and wrap their arms around their friends in homes, courtyards, and beaches. 

From April 17 to May 31, Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City will be showcasing a selection of Sidibé’s photography, including some never before seen images, in a new show, Regardez-moi. In an era of surveillance and digitally mediated experiences, Sidibé’s photography is a reminder of the potency of seeing, being, and celebrating together. Sidibé’s lens is always amidst rather than apart. In the spirit of play, texture takes center stage, from sharp polyester suits to dusty dance floors to woven bags and patterned dresses. 

Alongside the photographs, Loose Joints Publishing is releasing a monograph on Sidibé’s painted frame photographs. Centering the traditional art of reverse glass paintings, Sidibé collaborated with local Malian artists. His black and white images are surrounded by right pops of lime, pink, and tangerine, decorated with vines, leaves, and tiled motifs. The monograph also includes an essay from writer and collector-archivist Amy Sall.

“Malick Sidibé was witness to, and preserver of, a nascent, burgeoning postcolonial society in which a new modernity was being constructed by way of transcultural osmosis. From his studio to the soirées, and even to the banks of the Niger River, Sidibé and his camera were at the center of it all. He was not only chronicling Malian history and culture, but making pivotal contributions to it,” she writes.

Color Vision: Read Our Interview of Master Printers Guy Stricherz & Irene Malli →

William Eggleston 
Greenwood, Mississippi (red ceiling), 1973

Phillips is set to present Color Vision: Master Prints from Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli, a landmark series of auctions celebrating the unparalleled artistry of the dye transfer process. The first auction, happening on March 18, 2025, will feature the master prints of William Eggleston, including his Los Alamos portfolio and the highly sought-after "Magnificent Seven" large-format dye transfer prints. These works, crafted by Stricherz and Malli at Color Vision Imaging Laboratory, represent the pinnacle of color photography, offering collectors a rare opportunity to acquire the definitive prints from one of the most influential printers of the past four decades. I sat down with Guy and Irene to discuss the rare and fleeting magic of the dye transfer process in anticipation of next Tuesday’s auction at Phillips. Read more.

Gregory Crewdson: Unveiling the Dark Side of the American Dream at Espace Louis Vuitton München

The Espace Louis Vuitton München is showcasing a new exhibition dedicated to American photographer Gregory Crewdson. As part of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s "Hors-les-murs" programme, two exclusive series from Crewdson’s work, Dream House (2002) and Cathedral of the Pines (2014), are displayed for the first time in Munich.

Crewdson, a key figure in contemporary photography, has spent decades capturing the haunting essence of middle-class America, revealing its dark side through carefully staged, cinematic scenes. His images evoke a sense of surrealism, blending autobiography with an exploration of America’s faded dream, marked by eerie, deserted landscapes and mysterious characters. Crewdson’s work draws on film noir, psychological drama, and fantasy to create an unsettling atmosphere, reminiscent of David Lynch’s style.

Over the years, his technique evolved from simple compositions to elaborate productions with full film crews, as seen in Dream House. The Cathedral of the Pines series reflects a more personal and intimate phase, connected to his own life and family.

On view from 11.10.2024 to 22.02.2025 Espace Louis Vuitton München Maximilianstrasse 2a, 80539 München, Germany.

TRUFFLE by Parker Woods and Erin Green Book Launch @ Sheriff Gallery

TRUFFLE is an ode to detail; with the combining forces of Parker Woods’ intimate style of photography that takes a fresh approach to abstraction by placing it within the context of humanity, as well as Erin Greens’ honest and raw makeup artistry, depicting more than just makeup—but the person behind it. The book proposes a perspective one could only define as close, in all ways. Work that prides itself on defying the very word “pristine.” TRUFFLE’s black and white imagery along with their mix of up-close shots displaying both identifiable human features drawn in makeup amongst abstracted textured imagery creates a unique voice that speaks to you like a whisper directly into your ear. Portraying not only up close intimacy, but an undeniable vulnerability that compels you to look, even if it feels invading, the art book stands out by its artistic approach that can only be described as honest. 

With graphic design by Patrick Slack and Austin Redman, the final object is a 208-page, landscape-oriented book with slipcase and a 40.64cm x 50.8cm double-sided poster. Edition of 200.

You can preorder TRUFFLE now on their website

 
 

Bal(enciag)at by Hakan Solak and Osman Özel

all clothing by Balenciaga Spring 2023

photography by Osman Özel
styling by Hakan Solak
set design by Stefanie Grau
hair by Masayuki Yuasa
make-up by Gianluca Venerdini
using Haebmau Atelier, Pat McGrath and Byredo
production by Laura Howes
light assistance by Riccardo Contrino
styling assistance by Aleix Llussà Lòpez
hair assistance by Lee Hyangsoon
set assistance by Catherine Lemeshynska
casting by Eli Xavier Casting
modeling by Sarah G. @ TIAD, Lici, Albena @ Indeed and Tarek
special thanks to Hayley Foo and the Balenciaga Team

Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Models pose in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Photo of evil eye pendent
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Models pose in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Models pose in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Model poses in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration
Photo of metal structure with chandeliers
Models pose in Balenciaga Adidas collaboration

Études Releases Book N°26 With Artist Alessio Bolzoni Titled "I SPEAK A LANGUAGE THAT IS NOT MINE"

Since its inception, the independent publishing house, Études Books, has showcased the multi-disciplinary creations of artists from the contemporary art scene. Among the fall publications of 2022, Études Books is pleased to unveil book N°26, created with renowned Italian artist, Alessio Bolzoni.

For the London-based photographer, the personification of objects and the body caught between two states are favorite themes. Featured in past collaborations between Bolzoni and Études, these topics resurface in I SPEAK A LANGUAGE THAT IS NOT MINE. The book is the expression of a visual reflection through fragments, recurrences, and visual scansions.

Digital photographs, scans, facsimiles, screenshots: these various images, put in relation to one another, compose a mental cartography of the artists’ state of mind. Bodies in motion, chromatic analogies, skin details, plastic textures, and press clippings instill a dynamic impression of uncanniness.

The term “abuse”—referring to the eponymous titles of Bolzoni’s previous books—takes on an evocative power and invites us to question our relationship to images. The result is an intimate visual poem about form and substance. “It’s an observation of reality as I see it—a personal, social, and political registration of reality filtered through the lens of photo notes. Every detail tells a story and reveals something about my practice of living. This is my language.” —Alessio Bolzoni

With the launch of Alessio Bolzoni’s book, Études Studio is pleased to inaugurate its new 14.1 space. Envisioned as a place dedicated to creativity beyond the world of fashion, this space will welcome exhibitions by emerging artists, photographers, and Études collaborators, as well as various artistic events. Located above Études’ Paris flagship, 14.1 reinforces the studio’s initial wish to reflect and drive the contemporary creative landscape.

Études Books is an independent publisher, operating from Paris, with a will to present a new photographic and artistic scene with each publication. The official release was November 09, 2022. The book is available on etudes-studio.com/books and selected bookstores worldwide.

"Having Breakfast With The Family" Is A Portrait Of Displacement In The Face Of War


photographs by Daniel Vaysberg
text by Joshua Poschinski


There are currently millions of stories about people fleeing for their lives under threat of war. Stories about the relentless assault of aerial bombing destroying the place that was once called home. It might not be all of a sudden for those in power, but life shatters in an instant for everyday people. The supermarket where the cashier asks how your kid abroad is doing whenever you enter the building, the neighbor who lends you eggs every once in a while because you forgot to buy some for breakfast, the club where you had your first kiss, or just the unique smell of the house where you have been living for years, maybe decades. All of a sudden, everything you know is reduced to rubble, and you have to leave it all behind due to the perils of a single dictator’s fragile psyche. 

Whether they be in the Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, or Mali—there are millions of people globally who are seeking shelter from a reign of life-threatening terror that is utterly incomprehensible to those who are unfamiliar. One of these stories comes from Berlin-based photographer Daniel Vaysberg, who saw his parents flee his hometown, Kharkiv, after several weeks of mass destruction perpetuated by the Russians. He used to capture people’s daily life in Ukraine whenever he came home to visit. It was his way of bringing a piece of Ukrainian culture to Europe, providing a sometimes lovely, sometimes skewed view of a country that has become more liberal with every passing year. Now it is a war zone where Daniel finds himself facing two generations of trauma and representing a third one himself. Checking his phone incessantly for messages from his parents and friends has become Daniel’s daily routine, and what he’s left behind already feels so far away, as if home has slipped over the edge. 

While watching their hometown die, it took weeks for Daniel’s parents to leave the country. "On the 24th of February, around 5:00 a.m., we woke up to powerful explosions," Daniel’s mother Svetlana says. "We quickly took a look outside and realized that everything was burning and smoking. At that moment, we did not understand the seriousness of the problem. One to three days and it will cool down—that’s what we thought that morning.” 

Ukrainian citizens have lived in a sovereign nation since 1991, and yet they still find themselves seeking true independence from Russia long after the fall of the Soviet Union. They are a society shaped by communism that has managed to gradually inch towards democracy and hasn’t for a moment questioned the need to fight for their freedom at all costs. At the end of 2013, when the corrupt Ukrainian government led by president Viktor Yanukovych was about to push the country into grave dependence on Russia, the people demonstrated. When violence by their own government was used to keep them down, Ukrainians pushed back. They fought for their land and they won. The three months of bloody protest known as Euromaidan led to Parliament to eventually voting to remove Yanukovych from his post followed by his current exile in Southern Russia. However, victory was short lived with Putin’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula taking place only a couple of months later. Since then, Ukrainians have lived under a constant fear of war that is so dominating, a collective numbness has set in for most people living in the Southern region.

 
 

 "Words cannot describe the fear that a human experiences during these types of moments." 

Svetlana sits quietly in a chair now next to her own father in Dusseldorf, Germany, where they arrived five weeks after the Russian invasion started. She spent twenty days on the road and feels lucky to live with family in a place where she doesn’t wake up to sirens in the middle of the night. Now Svetlana’s father takes care of her and her husband, Vyacheslav, as he took care of his grandson, Daniel, when he came to Germany years ago. But as quiet as she seems, her mind is rattled by the experience. "The most frightening part of the war is the aerial bombings. When you sleep at night and have no idea where the next one is going to land. All my friends and family slept in jackets, pants, and boots to be prepared to run to the nearest shelter in case of an emergency. Words cannot describe the fear that a human experiences during these types of moments." 

Both she and her husband made the final decision to leave Ukraine while standing in line at the supermarket. After a three-kilometer walk and four hours of waiting in line, they were uncertain if anything would be left for them at all. They stood in line while "aerial bombs landed around two to three kilometers away. Everybody started to panic, nobody knew what to do. After that moment, we made a final decision to leave our hometown in order to survive." 

Svetlana is having breakfast now with her father, her husband, and her son in a small kitchen somewhere in Dusseldorf, Germany. What they have been through is what they keep. Daniel’s father, Vyacheslav, decided to leave the country with his wife, even though he wasn’t actually allowed to. Men under sixty are required to stay on Ukrainian soil and to be prepared to fight. But who is really charged with forcing citizens to bear arms against their will? 

After a week of travel, the couple reached a small city in the North of Lviv where Svetlana stayed while Vyacheslav went on in search of a way to leave the country. Five days passed before Svetlana received his call—he made it to Poland. But what happened during these five days is not what they talk about. Vyacheslav manages a chain of local storage units throughout Kharkiv and its surroundings. Svetlana used to work as a hair dresser in Kharkiv. She ran her own business for eighteen years. The building where her salon was located is now damaged and needs to be renovated, but the war rages on and most of their friends, family, and customers have left at this point. Nevertheless, they both want to get back. 

They feel blessed to have family and people who care in Germany, and as much as they are both enjoying time with their father and son, there’s a haunting restlessness. Svetlana and Vyacheslav are more than two thousand kilometers away from the place that they long for—a place that has endured heavy aerial bombing for over one hundred days and counting. They seek peace for themselves and for all the refugees who are currently experiencing this unbearable trauma. They want to have breakfast with their family in Kharkiv again. Kharkiv is home. It’s where they belong.

 
 

Read Our Interview Of Photographer and Filmmaker Lewis Khan → →

 
Blurry image of a dark street with a blue haze over the image. In the foreground is a bright lamp with a passer-by a few steps ahead.
 

British Photographer and filmmaker, Lewis Khan, uses London as one of his many creative resources. The city has great sentimental importance to the native South Londoner, who has lived on Bonnington Square for most of his life. Tucked away behind the traffic of Vauxhall, the square is one of 300+ housing cooperatives in London, owned and run by its tenants. It has a unique and fascinating history that owes much to the squatters who moved in during the 80s as a preventative measure to avoid demolition of the residential buildings. The community set up a wholefoods shop and vegetarian café, which is still there to this day. Read more.

The Unexpected: Magnum's Square Print Sale Features Over 100 Photographers @ $100

This week only, Magnum Photos is selling over 100 archival-quality prints, signed by the photographers or estate-stamped by the estates, are available for just $100.

They are not editioned by quantity, but editioned by time, as these items will not be made available outside the sale window. The images in each sale are always different, and will never be available in this format again. Don’t miss out!

Renata & Friends: A Photographic Essay Of Soft Sculpture By Cassandra Bickman

Sally Knows How To Party

Sally Knows How To Party

I was in a deep sleep one night at my great grandmother’s small town midwestern home, when suddenly I heard a loud crash downstairs. I put on her old blue silk robe, and walked down the rickety staircase to her green shag carpet basement with those old vinyl wooden walls, mugged with that dense musty smell midwestern basements have, with a slight scent of cigar smoke lingering in the air. To my surprise, The Versatile Henry Mancini and His Orchestra record was playing, and as I turned the corner, this strange silhouette was hanging from an old crystal chandelier, and another was laughing hysterically as it had crashed into the glass coffee table below. It was the strangest thing, it was 3am, and it appeared that I had walked into the winding down sloppy haze of a midnight soirée! As I further opened my eyes, I realized that it was my very own CLOSET that had come alive!! In awe, I sat down on the pink floral couch next to my favorite green suit whom introduced themselves to me as “Irene and Eileen the inflatable siamese twins”, they were classy yet bizarre, and were telling me an intriguing story about their favorite lizard named Susan and her popsicle stand in the desert.

 
Irene & Eileen, The Inflatable Siamese Twins

Irene & Eileen, The Inflatable Siamese Twins

 

It was Renata hanging from the chandelier, who told me she was my dad’s lady friend, and Maude to my right, who told me she liked to model as she poured me a sparkling glass of champagne. My favorite white leather jacket Sally had a real swagger, and Toby was obsessively puffing away at my grandpa’s old cigars. Then out came stumbling this very unpredictable figure from the bathroom who was Nancy, she was telling us this absurd story about how she was once a nanny who became an assassin. In another corner sat Big Red, who was a bit frozen as he told me he drank some beetle juice and was feeling a bit stunned. I later found my black silk gown sitting on the floor as she had taken a slight dose of acid and was in the midst of an epiphany, her name was Tiffany. I partied with them until just before sunrise, when I passed out on that floral couch with a tantalized smile. 

Maud likes to Model

Maud likes to Model

Toby In His Tuxedo

Toby In His Tuxedo

As I opened my eyes the next morning, I looked around to greet my new friends, yet they had all vanished into deflated empty piles of my very own clothes on the ground. When I told my grandma over coffee the next morning, she oddly just gave me a mischievous smirk when I told her what had happened, as if this wasn’t the first time this sort of thing happened here late at night. She said nothing more, and neither did I. Luckily, there was an old camera lying on the ground that night, and these photos that I snapped are all that I have left to reconcile the daze of this splendid, mysterious evening. 

 
 

Your Heartbreak Lives Here: A New Book of Photography by Kendall Waldman

Photographer Kendall Waldman is selling a small book of images of life in American pandemia and giving all proceeds to The Modest Needs Foundation. This is, of course, a ubiquitous model in this strange time of ours, when any artist with a functioning combination of heart and brain is trying to reconcile the impulse to work and the impulse to help. If you have the means, I encourage you to buy every item that every artist on the whole of the internet is selling to raise money for a good cause. But, if you must be discerning, if you’d like to contribute to an organization that seems to truly understand this unique societal moment and own an art object that does too, I recommend Waldman’s project. 

Simply put, these photographs capture the popular experience of life under COVID-19 lockdown so accurately and efficiently, it hurts a little. I don’t mean that the book offers a representative variety of stories—this isn’t reportage—but that it quietly articulates exactly what these months have felt like. It’s a formal study of an informal tone. Flipping through its pages some years from now just might be the easiest way to access the 2020 sense memories we’ll surely be storing in our marrow for decades to come. text by Gideon Jacobs

Follow Kendall Waldman on Instagram, and DM to buy the book.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya CONDO 2020: Modern Art Hosting Team Gallery In London

The group of Sepuya's work shown at Modern Art is comprised of photographs made between 2016 and 2019. Seen together, the chosen works convey the scope of formal strategies employed by Sepuya. Ranging from close up portraits of interlocking body parts, to studio portraits in which subjects are carefully poised behind and with objects, to photographs of his collages of test prints and archival material of the studio, Sepuya's strategies each speak to the self-reflexivity inherent in his practice and reveal his sensitivity and skill in capturing bodies on camera. Whether at its centre or its edges, the camera and tripod are almost always evident and always implied somewhere in each image, bringing the work firmly back into dialogue with its own technical construction and object-hood, and to Sepuya himself. The exhibition is on view through February 15 at Modern Art 50–58 Vyner Street , London. photographs courtesy of the gallery and the artist

Portrait Of Britain Announces Winners Of Its Fourth Edition National Exhibition In Partnership With JCDecaux

Portrait of Britain, is the largest exhibition of contemporary portrait photography ever held, as much a celebration of photography as it is a celebration of the diversity of our country’s people. Now in its fourth year, British Journal of Photography will launch the nationwide exhibition on 2 September across JCDecaux UK’s national channel of digital screens. Following an open call by British Journal of Photography earlier this year, thousands of portraits were submitted, and judges had the task of selecting the 200 shortlisted images from that number. All 200 images will be printed in the Portrait of Britain Book Vol.2, published by Hoxton Mini Press, and released on 5 September.

The 100 winning entries will be showcased across JCDecaux’s network of digital Out-of-Home screens throughout the country, from rail stations and airports, to shopping malls and high streets, throughout the month of September.

Pacing Around My Desire: Read Our Interview Of Carmen Winant On Her New Book Published By Printed Matter →

Honey Lee Cottrell Papers, #7822. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

In her new book titled Notes on Fundamental Joy; seeking the elimination of oppression through the social and political transformation of the patriarchy that otherwise threatens to bury us, Carmen Winant offers a poignant question: Does hope have an aesthetic? If it does, you may find it within the pages of this provocative book. Click here to read more.

Dana Kyndrová Presents "Woman Between Inhaling And Exhaling" @ The Czech Center In New York

Czech documentary photographer Dana Kyndrová has been focusing her camera on women for half of a century. The series "Woman between Inhaling and Exhaling" examines the many aspects of women’s lives. Shot primarily in former Czechoslovakia and later in the Czech Republic, but also in some Western countries, the photographs show the moment of birth, the tension of school exams, falling in love – daily life, both under Communism and after. Woman between Inhaling And Exhaling is on view through July 28 at the Czech Center, Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street, New York. photographs courtesy of the gallery

The Skirball Cultural Center Presents Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite in Los Angeles

Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite is on view now at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The exhibition features over forty photographs of black women and men reclaiming their African roots with natural hair and clothes. This is the first-ever major exhibition dedicated to this key figure of the second Harlem Renaissance. In collaboration with the African Jazz-Art Society and Studios (AJASS) and Grandassa Models, Brathwaite organized fashion shows featuring clothing designed by the models themselves, took stunning portraits of jazz musicians, and captured the black arts community in a series of behind-the-scenes photographs. Brathwaite’s work challenged mainstream beauty standards while celebrating black beauty, instilling a sense of pride throughout the community. On view through September 1 at the Skirball Cultural Center 2701 N Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles. photos courtesy of the Skirball Cultural Center

CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History Of Hip-Hop @ Annenberg Space For Photography In Los Angeles

Celebrating the photographers who have played a critical role in bringing hip-hop’s visual culture to the global stage, CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop is an inside look at the work of hip-hop photographers, as told through their most intimate diaries: their unedited contact sheets. Curated by Vikki Tobak—produced in partnership with United Photo Industries—and based on her book of the same name, the photographic exhibition includes over 120 works from more than 60 photographers. Taking the audience into the original and unedited contact sheets—from Barron Claiborne’s iconic Notorious B.I.G. portraits, to early images of Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West as they first took to the scene, to Janette Beckman’s defining photos of Salt-N-Pepa, to Jamel Shabazz and Gordon Parks documenting hip-hop culture—CONTACT HIGH allows visitors to look directly through the photographer’s lens and observe all of the pictures taken during these legendary photo shoots. The exhibit also includes rare videos, memorabilia, and music to demonstrate how the documentation of a cultural phenomenon impacts not just music, but politics and social movements around the world. CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop is on view through August 18 at Annenberg Space For Photography 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles. photographs courtesy of the gallery

Theaster Gates Presents "The Black Image Corporation" @ Gropius Bau In Berlin

With The Black Image Corporation, Theaster Gates has conceived a participatory exhibition which explores the fundamental legacy of Johnson Publishing Company archives. Featuring more than four million images, they have contributed to shape the aesthetic and cultural languages of African American identity.

Central to the exhibition are the works of two photographers, Moneta Sleet Jr. and Isaac Sutton, who both worked for Johnson Publishing. The publishing company created two landmark publications for black American audiences in the 1940s and ‘50s: the monthly magazine Ebony and its weekly sister outlet Jet, which quickly became two of the major platforms for the representation and discussion of black culture. The magazines covered historic milestones such as the March on Washington in 1963 and the first African-American astronaut, politics, sports and celebrities, as well as the complex realities black Americans faced in the US post-war era. The Black Image Corporation is on view through July 28 at Gropius Bau Niederkirchnerstraße 7 10963, Berlin.

Highlights From The Printed Matter LA Art Book Fair @ MoCA Geffen

Initiated in 2013, Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair (LAABF) is the companion fair to the NY Art Book Fair. Free and open to the public, the two fairs are among the leading international gatherings for the distribution of artists’ books, celebrating the full breadth of the art publishing community.

Held at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in downtown Los Angeles over three days, the 2019 LA Art Book Fair hosted 390 exhibitors from 31 countries, including a broad range of artists and collectives, small presses, institutions, galleries, antiquarian booksellers, and distributors. The event draws more than 35,000 individuals including book lovers, collectors, artists, and art world professionals each year. With a commitment to diversity and representation, the fair serves as a meeting place for an extended community of publishers and book enthusiasts, as well as a site for dialogue and exchange around all facets of arts publishing. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper