HOLD UP ART PRESENTS
THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF SUNNY BAK
IN A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION
ENTITLED
Boys and Dogs
Premieres
on October 8, 2011 at 7:00 PM
OPENING
NIGHT RECEPTION
Saturday,
October 8, 2011
Exhibit
runs through November 1, 2011
at
Hold Up
Art
358 E. 2nd
Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Hold Up Art presents Boys and Dogs, a collection of works by world
renowned photographer Sunny Bak. Her photos of the Beastie Boys and
the “Licensed to Ill” tour solidified Sunny’s place as a serious rock and
celebrity photographer. Simultaneously, her love of animals, especially dogs,
led to the creation of the best selling People Magazine parody, Pupple.
These two diverse collections of images represent the work that have defined
Sunny’s career.
“It's been 25 years since I looked at the images I shot of the Beastie
Boys in NYC with Garrett Simmons when we were working on a book
called Pupple,” says Sunny Bak of this new exhibition. “This show is
part retrospective and part looking toward the future as Garrett and I are
working on a follow up to the original Pupple. It's an homage to the
beasty in all of us.”
Photographing celebrities since high school, Sunny has shot
celebrities like Madonna, 10,000 Maniacs, Gregory Peck, Keanu
Reeves, Seth Green, and Carol Alt. She spent time on
the road with the up-and-coming The Beastie Boys on their 1986 “Licensed
to Ill” tour. Sunny shot the iconic images that were featured in the
multi-platinum album’s artwork.
“Within the context of our culture, from Kanye, to Banksy
to Obama, hip hop is an undeniable pillar of our culture,” says Hold Up
Art curator Brian Lee. “Though many people overlook the 80s hip hop scene as
being dated and over-played, too much of our contemporary notions of the
‘artist,’ and issues of ‘anti-authority’ that color the way we perceive the
Shepard Fairey's of the day, are informed directly by the attitude and movement
of the genre. Sunny Bak's photos follow the Beastie's during their
late 80s ‘Licensed to Ill’ tour, offering a very intimate perspective on such a
ground-breaking time. Whether it is our distance in time or the closeness
Sunny shared with The Beastie Boys, Bak's photos bring you closer to understanding
who these three guys really were, aside from their music videos. The
photos reveal the personal side of them, and a universal story of youth,
potential, and the American Dream.”
Sunny’s best-selling book, Pupple, co-created with Garrett
Simmons, took a different look at celebrity photography. She photographed
dogs, dressed as celebrities in a parody of People Magazine. With new
celebrities to feature, Sunny and Garrett are currently working on the follow
up to Pupple.
Most recently, Sunny’s work has appeared in Jay-Z’s online
promotion with BING for his book, Decoded, and in the Rizolli
book, Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record
Label.
For more information about
this and other exhibitions,
please visit www.holdupart.com.
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