Friday, April 18, 2008

Ryan McGinley's new show - American Apparel without the clothes?

(Ryan McGinley)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks there's an awful lot of hot air (and not much else) surrounding Ryan McGinley's current show, along with the work itself.

Conscientious has written a rare critical comment on the work - and manages to hit it spot on. Along with some general points about how the show is being marketed, he gets it just right when he suggests that McGinley's work here is pretty much an American Apparel ad minus the clothing. There's really not to much more to it than that.

In which vein, here's an interesting bit of news from The Onion about American Apparel (maybe they could do a piece on McGinley...?):



14 American Apparel Models Freed In Daring Midnight Raid

LOS ANGELES—Acting on information gathered from billboards, alternative weeklies, and Internet banner ads, an FBI strike team liberated 14 dazed, sallow, and undernourished American Apparel models in a raid on the controversial organization's downtown Los Angeles compound early Monday.

"There were girls lying everywhere—draped over furniture, sprawled spread-eagled in the corner, and huddled close like animals," FBI Special Agent Curtis Froman, who oversaw the raid, said at a press conference. "Many of them had been given nothing more than a pair of tube socks or men's briefs to wear."... more

2 comments:

Stan B. said...

I don't know, McGinley's photographs take me back to those heady, idealized times when everyone was young, beautiful and white.

tim atherton said...

... and naked...

somehow I missed out on that bit :-)