The Body: Visual AIDS Web Gallery: jackson -- June 2003

curator's statement

membership

t h e p r i d e s h o w
c u r a t o r : j a c k s o n

I was honored to be asked to curate for Visual AIDS, a truly worthwhile organization that I have been aware of for well over a decade. What you see here is the condensed version of what will be presented at "The Pride Shows" on June 26, 2003 at View Bar in the heart of gay New York -- Chelsea.

June is the month in which we in NYC celebrate Gay Pride; therefore I decided to let that serve as the starting point to thematically begin my selection process. There are countless images in the Archive Project depicting every component of gay life. In fact, there are so many amazingly beautiful pieces of art, that in order to limit myself to under 20 images I would need to stick with what I know best -- photography.

I wanted photographs that speak of life and vitality; images that champion the beauty of the male form; that have a distinctly gay voice or point of view; that demonstrate how diverse the art form of photography can be; and ultimately show what a wonderful communications tool art can be. I think that the pieces you see here meet all these criteria and are magnificently strong images that will stay with you, as they have with me. The works are as provocative, colorful, and diverse as the talented artists who created them. Enjoy. And live proud!

b i o g r a p h y

Born a Canadian, but a true New Yorker at heart, the mono-monikered "jackson" is a self-taught photographer.

In a former life, as the Public Affairs Director of Canada's largest live theater (The Citadel), he hired countless photographers, illustrators, graphic designers, and other visual artists who eventually inspired him to pick up the camera for himself -- a secret desire he had held from a very early age.

Having been inspired by the works of Weber, Ritts, Mapplethorpe, and Skrebneski, to name but a few, jackson has pursued a similar direction in photographing the male nude. He also has an extensive body of work having photographed New York's nightlife scene for numerous publications and Web sites. Jackson works in both film and digital formats.

When not focusing on his own work (photographer's pun intended), jackson curates solo and group exhibitions like "The Pride Shows" which opens Thursday, June 26 at View Bar in the heart of Chelsea in NYC. His credits also include the highly regarded Golin + Harris shows in the prestigious Chrysler Building and the hugely successful and critically acclaimed weekly series "Well Hung" at View Bar.

His work can be seen at: jacksonphotografix.com.