Reminder

Any of you Detroit area people, please be sure to stop out at the People's Art Festival on Saturday, and especially look for the Streetwise Art exhibit space inside the main building. Follow the cars, follow the signs... I'll be around the festival most of the day and probably in the exhibit space quite a bit. There will be over 60 framed pieces by 25+ artists and photographers, as well as "loose prints" for sale. I'll have a few copies of my book, Dark Light on hand, too.

I just found out that K Leo and Johnny Flamethrower will have work in the show, and one or both of them may even be in town from the big city, so all the more reason to stop by and take part in the arts festival!

This is Crystallynn, from a shoot in July, obviously the one featured on the flyer. One of my favorite PG-rated shots. :)

Events on the horizon

FRIDAY, September 7 will be the "Dark Arts Expo v.2.0" at the Foundry Night Club in Dayton. I'll have a large selection of new prints there (including the shot of Aurora above), as well as a few favorites, so if you're looking for those back-to-school art nudes, look no further. Thanks to Kevin at Dark Mannequin Designs for putting the evening together.

On Saturday, September 15, Streetwise Art of Detroit will have gallery space exhibiting work from 25+ artists, including a number from the Summ(er)otica show. I'll have a couple pieces hanging in the gallery as well as a selection of matted pieces for sale. It's part of the People's Arts Festival in Detroit -- during the day, there will be over 140 individual artists and merchandise booths, along with 25 bands throughout the heart of the Russell Industrial Center, as well as an exclusive private gallery hosted by Streetwise Art within the Russell Industrial Center. Thanks to Adam and Lisolette for putting the Streetwise part of this event together. That's my shot of Crystallynn on the flyer, BTW.

On edit: it looks like I won't be displaying at the Detroit Erotica Ball after all... I was relying on a few other folks to have my work "tag along" with theirs, but for various reasons that won't be happening, and I'm not really in a position to handle the details remotely. The Ball will go on of course, and I may even stop by to take a look around, being the tourist that I am, but as of right now, it looks like the Streetwise space at the People's Art Festival will be the place to see my work in Detroit that weekend.

On edit encore: Looks like Boyd's "Fishnet Nation" event scheduled for October 6 has been cancelled... I'm sure he'll find a way to make another event happen before long.

Some (more) erotica

Don't forget, you folks in the Detroit/Toledo area, that there will be another evening reception for the "Summerotica" show at the S3V3RANC3 Gallery in Detroit's Eastern Market this Saturday from 8pm to midnight. I can't make it, but I'm sure several of the photographers (and perhaps a few of the models) will be in attendance. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for wine and refreshments. I believe there are about 95 pieces in the show, and hundreds more in the "museum store" area. The exhibit will also be open from 10am-3pm on the 18th and 25th, or by appointment, but the party is this Saturday. Tell a buddy and bring a friend...

And here we have the enticing Crystallynn modeling a favorite summer style.

Another opening, another show

Was invited by Kevin of Dark Mannequin Designs to take part in another exhibition, this time in Dayton at the Foundry Nightclub on Friday September 7th. Click the poster to see a larger version and check out everyone who's planning to take part. Hope to see you there!

S3V3RANC3 PA(rt)Y

Update: There will be another evening reception for the "Summerotica" show Saturday, August 18 from 8pm to midnight. So if you missed the opening, here's your second chance!"


Had a few minutes to go through the snapshots from the opening reception for the Midwest Society of Erotic Photography show last Saturday at the S3V3RANC3 Gallery in Detroit. Thanks to Josefine and Matt for all their efforts to pull off the show, and thanks to Adam, Iris, BT and all the MWSEP photographers who participated and promoted the show. It was great meeting a few more of the photographers from the group, a new model or three, and seeing familiar faces again. Not the greatest night for sales, but it was a good time, and I may have three or four new shoots lined up, and that's what's important, right?

Sadly, my little P&S didn't do such a great job, and a few shots I had hopes for didn't pan out at all, but still have a few here to serve as presentable documentation. At the top is the smoking lounge of the gallery with its cryptic "Okeh Dokey" logo, and at left, the lovely Heather checks out my pieces in the show. Below, we have: the crowd on the second floor; the Glitterati; Iris and Lela compare notes with AJ Kahn; Heather with hubby John; Iris and Lela posing with "The Luckiest Man in Canada™" Stephen Thorne; Lisolette Gilcrest pitching her portfolio; Stephen Thorne's corner of the show; the bustling museum store with the ever-present Adam at right; the crowded first floor space; spontaneous dancing; MWSEP ringmaster BT with Lela; the upstairs exhibit space pre-show, the downstairs space pre-show, and another corner of the upstairs space. You get the idea.




The show runs three more Saturdays in August, from 10am to 3pm, or by appointment, so check it out!

Some erotica

Last night I worked up a couple unofficial flyers for the MWSEP show opening coming up on July 28th, which of course means the OFFICIAL flyer (below) showed up in my e-mail this morning. C'est la vie des artes.

The blue pool photo in the top version of the flyer is a BT Charles shot I pirated from his blog that I thought looked "summery" in a dark sort of way. (BT is the driving force behind the exhibit and the MidWest Society of Erotic Photography, too.) The other flyer features my Sativa gas mask shot shown here a couple weeks ago.

Anthony from DVS did a great job on the official flyer, inspired by Patty Izzo's photo. So, if you're in the Detroit-ish area, please pimp the show to friends and open-minded family, and make plans to attend. There will be complimentary wine at the opening reception from J. Garcia, but sadly, I doubt there will be any Cherry Garcia.

The "Summerotica" show is slated to feature work from 20 members of the MWSEP, up to 5 pieces per person, so potentially 100 hanging pieces, plus there will be a "museum store" set-up for smaller and unframed pieces, too. The S3V3RANC3 Gallery is re-opening after a two-year hiatus, so they'll be pulling out all the stops. If you can't make the opening reception, the show will be hanging throughout August, open to the public on Saturdays from 10am to 3, or by appointment. See you there!

Eventualities

Another busy weekend concluded, a mixed bag to be sure. The first shot is the crowd on the smoking porch at the "Skin Art" show at the Pearl in Dayton Thursday night. As mentioned before, decent turnout, but not a lot of buyers among them. I guess when you have four bands, eight artists, four models, plus significant others, that adds up to 50 or more people right there so that helps enhance the illusion of a crowd. But respectable for Dayton on a humid Thursday night, and as I said, it looks like I found several new potential models whom I'm looking forward to working with. Even met a couple readers of this blog. (Hi Sandy and James!)

Less encouraging were the "Dark Visions" closing reception and the "Shadows in the Night" event in Toledo Friday night. Turns out the closing reception really wasn't promoted at all, and most of the people who might have attended had been at the opening, so the turnout was somewhere between "sparse" and "grim." Not sure what the problem was with the "Shadows" event... didn't have much advance promotion, but that hardly accounts for a nightclub being nearly deserted on a Friday night. Apart from a small circle of activity buzzing around Miss May (at left), it was largely empty. We hung around until nearly midnight, then called it a night. Perhaps the beautiful people don't get the party started until later than that... still surprised that Dayton on a Thursday night pulled more than Toledo on a Friday. (On edit: did hear back from a young woman I spoke to at the "Shadows" event who's interested in modeling at the next group event, so that's one more bright spot.)

Saturday was another Collingwood group shoot, and thanks to the heat and the lack of air conditioning, nudity seemed to be the watchword of the day. Got to work with several returning champions and a couple of new friends, and I feel I got really strong stuff with everybody, so watch for images from the day to start showing up here fairly soon. Included was a nice long session with "Capricious Token" (shown here from a shoot last month), and even got a little bonus time with her on Sunday. Got to meet Far Rider (see link at right) but he introduced himself with his real name, so I didn't make the connection until later. (Sorry David.) As always, thanks to Boyd for hosting, and all the models for making it a really enjoyable day's photography.

"Adventures in the skin trade..."

One night only, June 28, mark your calendars... I've been invited to be part of a show called "Skin Art" if you couldn't tell by the poster art here. Other photographers/artists slated to appear include: Dave Levingston, Kidtee Hello, Dark Mannequin, Simeon Oyeyemi, and Stillborn Photography. In addition, there will be some tattoo artists/piercers, plus four bands and a few other surprises.

I guess Dave and I are included because there's a lot of skin in our art... the others tend to work a little more towards the dark/goth side of things with piercings and tattoos -- although I'm no stranger to that territory -- so there should be something for everybody and every body. I'll have a few framed pieces there, as well as a selection of matted prints, and possibly even some loose prints at affordable prices. So, if you're in the Dayton area, stop by The Pearl (formerly the Dayton Diner) the evening of the 28th and be sure to bring your skin.