Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Fantasy World of Ryan McGinley


A somewhat pointed critique from Slate - Does Photography's Hot Young Thing Deserve All The Hype (follow the slideshow and article), about Ryan McGinley and his roadtrips with a couple of vans of models and crew - which, after comparisons with Larry Clarke, Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans, concludes:

"What's striking is how easily McGinley's signature style translates from one platform to the other. His shots of naked twentysomethings riding bicycles through the countryside mean more or less the same thing on the walls of the Whitney or in an ad for Puma. McGinley has essentially created a successful lifestyle brand—a stylish fantasy of youth, beauty, and hedonistic fun. It's great for selling sneakers and cell phones. But I think we can expect more from art."

At what point, I wonder, does it just become The Simple Life?

(p.s. - have you ever actually tried riding a bike naked... ouch)

2 comments:

Stan B. said...

Give credit where credit's due- Joel-Peter Witkin couldn't wish his pictures as creepy as McGinley's.

fartin on thunder said...

Exactly. I believe in Slates critic.
Fart Thunder.