Dollywood

As part of SHOWstudio's Fashion Fetish film season, Liberty Ross collaborates with photographer Polly Borland to create Dollywood, a subversively sinister view of eroticism. Liberty explains, 'I wanted to make a film that blurred the line of primitive sexual fetishism with naive and childlike play. To me the act of dressing up, tying up and fetishism has its primal urges in childhood.' Inspired by Borland's current artwork, the provocative work tackles the taboos surrounding fetish, questioning the extent to which sexual acts have their basic roots in youthful urges.

David Armstrong's Night & Day

Night & Day brings together a selection of iconic Kodachrome pictures from David Armstrong’s archive of the late 70’s and early 80’s New York scene. The images illuminate an intimate and carefree epoch of innocent-bohemian wilderness -a time just before the tumultuos 80’s. Dispersed through out the series are images of generation of youngsters which changed culture - including Rene Ricard, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jean-Michel Basquait, John Waters to mention a few. Vernacular yet with a undeniable ability to capture and create timeless images, David Armstrong’s Night & Day tells tales of a bygone era.  Night & Day is out now by Morel books with 110 images and an original poem typed out in 1979 by Rene Ricard who also designed an amazing cover. You can order the book here. 

Hisaji Hara's Photographic Renditions of Balthus

Using medium-format film and meticulous in-camera methods, Hisaji Hara reinvents the legendary and provocative paintings of highly revered 20th century figurative painter, Balthus (1908-2001). In his staged tableaux, Hara appropriates the adolescent subjects featured in Balthus’ canvases, paying particular attention to details in posture and expression. The setting as well as the costuming, however, are uniquely Japanese. Thus, the artist culls from the suggestive vocabulary of the originals – paintings simultaneously youthful and erotic – while playing with strict architectural formalism and Lolitaesque obsessions that anchor the work in Japanese cultural traditions. On view now at the Rose Gallery in Los Angeles, the American debut of Hisaji Hara’s "A photographic portrayal of the paintings of Balthus.” Black and white prints from this acclaimed series will be on view until July 7, 2012.

Kohei Yoshiyuki's Park @ The Liverpool Biennial

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Kohei Yoshiyuki's famous series showing couples having sex in a park will be on view as part of the Liverpool Biennial 2012. The images caused controversy the first time they were shown in Japan 30 years ago where viewers were forced to view the photographs, which were printed small, in the dark with a torch.  The Biennial will be recreating the same experience, turning the viewer into voyeur. Yoshiyuki used a 35mm camera, infrared film, and flash to document the people who gathered there at night for clandestine trysts, as well as the many spectators lurking in the bushes who watched—and sometimes participated in—these couplings. The Liverpool Biennial 2012 will be on view from September 15 to November 25.

[REVIEW] Me @ The Zoo

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Me @ The Zoo is the first feature film from the visionary directors, Valerie Veatch and Chris Moukarbel, it made its New York City premiere at MoMA PS1 last week. Zoo mirrors the perilous journey of Chris Crocker to stardom with the initiation of our digital obsession, from the first YouTube video ever posted (from which the documentary gets its title), to the monthly checks paid to the creators of viral videos. This film is more than just a bio-pic about the world's favorite Britney Spears fan, it is also a reflection on our human desire to connect and extend our roots past the original pot we were placed in. Chris is from Bristol, Tennessee which Veatch and Moukarbel captured perfectly with poetic shots of Chris in drag, strolling down main street during the fourth of July parade. The viewer gets a feel for this restrictive environment, and can draw the connections between the spastic personality who honestly wanted us to "leave Britney ALONE" and the sensitive artist that loves his family but desires for something more. As Chris shares with us every bit of his kaleidescope sexuality, from Britney look-alike to male hunk star, he proves that at any point in time you can be whoever you want, as long as you get it on camera. Me @ the Zoo will make its U.S. premiere on HBO Documentaries. Text by Angelina Dreem

She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea

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Tracey Emin's first major solo exhibition at Turner Contemporary, entitled She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea, is conceived specially for Margate, where Emin grew up and which has provided inspiration for many of her most famous art works. The exhibition explores the themes of love, sensuality and romanticism in Emin's oeuvre, featuring both new and existing works including drawings, monoprints, sculptures and neons. The exhibition's central themes continue in a display of paintings, sketches and watercolours of erotic subjects by Tracey Emin as well as JMW Turner and Auguste Rodin, whose iconic sculpture The Kiss is on show at Turner Contemporary until 2 September 2012. Tracey Emin: She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea will be on view from May 26 to September 23 at the Turner Contemporary