Recently skimming through Ryan McGinley’s portfolio, I stumbled on a rad spread for Muse back in 2009.
Admittedly, it’s hard for me to get into modern portraiture… but for some reason these transcend my cynicism. There’s a real tenderness in his more candid projects that somehow gracefully translate to portraits.
He began in the late ’90s, documenting graffiti artists and skate culture but has since tackled more nature-centric works including a recent show exploring underground caves, entitled Moonmilk.
After a solo show at the Whitney in 2003 (at a ripe age of 24, and the youngest artist to snag a solo there), he began to really dive into the human body within nature. In his show I Know Where The Summer Goes, much of the photography documents this dreamy, washed out vision of summer landscapes and an addled naked youth.
I’m gonna come out and say I really like this large-scale work, but it’d be silly not to note that a ton of distracting hype has gone up around McGinley, not only for hangin’ with the late Dash Snow, but because some find his works a bit too American Apparel-without-the-clothes. I wouldn’t of made that connection, but I can see where they’re coming from.
In any case, the Muse spread has its moments. I especially love the raccoon portrait because it reminds me of my dad. Not in the look of the guy… but one of my favourite stories my dad has told me is of the 3 years he lived in a Vermont barn with his Danish wife and a raccoon that would come in and out. At night the raccoon would slink in and sit atop his head, reach into my dad’s mouth and play with his teeth. Anika Sabin
One of my favorite sets of his too