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"Gatewood's world is freakish, earthy, blunt, erotic--most of all, terribly and beautifully alive." --A.D. Coleman, NY Times.
Charles Gatewood began photographing the American "underground" in the mid-1960's, after having received a BA in Anthropology from the University of Missouri. He was considered by many to be an obsessed eccentric whose concerns were extremely marginal. Today however, as public nudity, blatant exhibitionism, full body tattooing and piercing, extreme fetish practices and various forms of sadomasochistic excess have entered mainstream culture, Gatewood's photographs appear not only artistically and historically significant, but also uncannily prophetic.
Wherever there's been a congregation of body modification enthusiasts or oddities of the underbelly of society, Gatewood was there photographing their practices, rituals and documenting aspects of culture that would otherwise never have been seen by a mainstream audience. This is evidenced throughout his large 10-book publishing history. They run the gamut from the New Orleans Mardi Gras, to the most controversial followers of blood-play in San Francisco, to women into naked body food fights.
Also selected for this exhibition are vintage gelatin silver prints from Gatewood's rarely seen 1972-76 WALL STREET essay, which was awarded two fellowships from NY State Council on the Arts plus the Leica Medal of Excellence. Vintage prints from Gatewood's first book, SIDETRIPPING (1975, with William S. Burroughs), as well as a selection of “underground portraits".
portraits”, and some new collages from 2004-5.
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CHARLES GATEWOOD
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