New Discretions presents Tom Bianchi’s “63 E 9th Street.” 'This is our first collaboration with the artist, corresponding with his latest monograph of the same title. The exhibition will take place at Johannes Vogt’s Next Door Guest at 958 Madison Ave.' New Discretions is a curatorial project by Benjamin Tischer of INVISIBLE-EXPORTS.
In 1975 Tom Bianchi moved from the American heartland to New York City, seeking a place in the cultural and sexual revolution that was unfolding among its blossoming young gay population. On summer weekends, Bianchi took his Polaroid SX – 70 camera to the Pines; those pictures became the 2013 book Fire Island Pines: Polaroids 1975–1983. Years later, we now get a first look at another extraordinary collection of Bianchi’s Polaroids, taken in his East 9th St apartment. Bianchi’s New York apartment was an intimate, track-lit den, a safe stage where he and his friends played out erotic night games. At once confronting limited notions of the self and reveling in the spirituality of physical bodies, Bianchi faithfully documented these sexual encounters, often turning the camera on himself. Playful, nostalgic and highly personal, New York City Polaroids is an essential companion book to Fire Island Pines and an important document of urban gay life.
Tom Bianchi has published 16 books of photographs, poems, and essays primarily covering the gay male experience. In 1990, St. Martin’s Press published Out of the Studio, Bianchi’s book of male nudes, frankly gay and affectionally connected. Fire Island Pines Polaroids 1975–1983 was honored by Time magazine’s list of the Best Photo Books of 2013. Published this year, 63 E 9th Street is available through Damiani Press.
Bianchi’s work has been shown in galleries and museums from Tokyo to Berlin and Cologne and throughout the US and Canada for over 30 years, including Jean Albano Gallery (Chicago); Milwaukee Art Institute; Fahey Klein Gallery (Los Angeles). In 1984, he was given his first solo museum exhibition at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. His semi-abstract large-scale constructions have been commissioned for a host of clients including IBM, Bank of America and Saks 5th Avenue.
In 1975 Tom Bianchi moved from the American heartland to New York City, seeking a place in the cultural and sexual revolution that was unfolding among its blossoming young gay population. On summer weekends, Bianchi took his Polaroid SX – 70 camera to the Pines; those pictures became the 2013 book Fire Island Pines: Polaroids 1975–1983. Years later, we now get a first look at another extraordinary collection of Bianchi’s Polaroids, taken in his East 9th St apartment. Bianchi’s New York apartment was an intimate, track-lit den, a safe stage where he and his friends played out erotic night games. At once confronting limited notions of the self and reveling in the spirituality of physical bodies, Bianchi faithfully documented these sexual encounters, often turning the camera on himself. Playful, nostalgic and highly personal, New York City Polaroids is an essential companion book to Fire Island Pines and an important document of urban gay life.
Tom Bianchi has published 16 books of photographs, poems, and essays primarily covering the gay male experience. In 1990, St. Martin’s Press published Out of the Studio, Bianchi’s book of male nudes, frankly gay and affectionally connected. Fire Island Pines Polaroids 1975–1983 was honored by Time magazine’s list of the Best Photo Books of 2013. Published this year, 63 E 9th Street is available through Damiani Press.
Bianchi’s work has been shown in galleries and museums from Tokyo to Berlin and Cologne and throughout the US and Canada for over 30 years, including Jean Albano Gallery (Chicago); Milwaukee Art Institute; Fahey Klein Gallery (Los Angeles). In 1984, he was given his first solo museum exhibition at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. His semi-abstract large-scale constructions have been commissioned for a host of clients including IBM, Bank of America and Saks 5th Avenue.
