Fine Art Photographers – and spouses – MICHAEL GRECCO and ELIZABETH WATERMAN have side-by-side solo exhibitions at Leica Gallery Los Angeles on view through November 5. There is a BOOK SIGNING and ARTIST TALK for both projects scheduled for Sunday, October 22, 1-3PM. Leica Gallery director Paris Chong curated both shows, and the installation marks the first time these bodies of work have been shown in Los Angeles.
Grecco’s multi-media exhibition “DAYS OF PUNK,” celebrates punk music and culture and features photos spanning 1978-1991. The negatives his years of punk shoots had sat dormant in file cabinets for decades until his archivist suggested revisiting this previously unseen body of work five years ago. Their efforts lead to Michael’s most recent book, the best-selling Punk, Post Punk, New Wave: Onstage, Backstage, In Your Face, 1978–1991 (Abrams Books, 2020), which introduced these images to the public for the first time. The book also includes Grecco’s personal anecdotes from those years, and a foreword by B-52s Fred Schneider.
The photographs featured in the exhibition – of artists including The Clash, Billy Idol, The Cramps, Wendy O. Williams (Plasmatics), The B-52s, Devo and more – date back to the late ‘70s through the early ‘90s, shot primarily in the Boston area, with some images captured in New York City. Included are performance shots, backstage moments, portraits, and more. They are available in various sizes as limited-edition signed prints that are exclusively printed on Ilford Gold Fibre Gloss paper. Ilford Imaging is the official paper sponsor for DAYS OF PUNK.
Waterman’s exhibition “MONEYGAME” features her photos of strippers at clubs in five cities across the U.S. over a five year period as well as new images from Bangkok. Waterman’s portfolio MONEYGAME chronicles the world of strippers and exotic dancers, and was first presented to the public via the now sold-out 2021 book MONEYGAME (XYZ Publishing, Lisbon, Portugal). Remembering back to the very beginning when she was living and working in Brooklyn, Waterman says, “It took months to get access to my first clubs, and find my footing. No one quite understood what I was doing there. But I came in week after week. I helped to collect the dollar bills littering the stage. The dancers began to warm to me. I showed them my work, and they liked how I saw them. Soon they were volunteering to pose on the pole.
From 2016 through 2020, she continued visiting nightclubs in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, forging a rapport with the strippers, a bond necessary to create the intimacy and trust in the images she captured. Waterman’s work offers a unique glimpse – through a female gaze – into the charged and atmospheric world of stripping, including evocative mise en scene shots, images of the girls performing onstage, resting backstage, taking meal breaks, and applying make-up. Waterman celebrates her subjects’ humanity and commitment to mastering their art in service of larger life goals. Often, these women are using income from stripping and dancing to pay off student loans, raise a family, buy a home, or launch a business. Canson Infinity is the official paper sponsor for MONEYGAME, and the official printing sponsor is Photo Impact Lab, Los Angeles.
Each exhibition spotlights its own specific subculture that vibrantly complements the other. The talk and signing are free, RSVPs are suggested:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/michael-grecco-elizabeth-waterman-artist-talk-and-book-signing-tickets-723589855737?aff=oddtdtcreator
Artist statements:
DAYS OF PUNK
When I came of age in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it was in the middle of an artistic rebellion that changed the face of politics and culture forever. This was the era of Punk; bold, self-expressed, and free. An era of music, attitude and fashion that spat in the face of the established norms. I had grown up in an old-world Italian household in suburban New York. I was told how to be, how not to be. I felt stifled. Walking into my first Punk club in Boston, I found I suddenly joined a club where everybody belonged. I could finally be myself, or at least find out who I really was, and I dove headfirst into a journey of social and artistic freedom. The spirit of Punk was extraordinary. It marked me forever. As you look at these images, I hope you also get touched by its infectious freedom. – Michael Grecco
MONEYGAME
As a professional voyeur, I’ve orbited around many subcultures – drag, club, carnival – skating along the periphery of other people’s moments. For years, I was hesitant to document the world of strippers and sex workers, but I was mesmerized by it all the same. In 2016, I finally discovered a place in Queens where the manager gave me the go-ahead to shoot. It took me a while to find my footing. I felt the cold ripples of the girls’ suspicion; no one quite understood what I was doing there. But I came in week after week. and the dancers began to warm to me. I showed them my work, and they liked how I saw them. Soon they were volunteering to pose on the pole. I know I’ve been changed by the experience, I’ve taken on some of their audacity. What does the life of modern stripper look like? That is what I am exploring with MONEYGAME. – Elizabeth Waterman
Pictured: Top: The Clash, NYC 1980 (c) Michael Grecco
Bottom: Ladyboy in Blue, Bangkok, 2023 (c) Elizabeth Waterman
