Ryan McGinley, one of the most important photographers of his generation, asks his friends and colleagues to take the camera into their own hands. Following instructions given to them by the artist, a group of individuals explore their
own image.

Ryan McGinley, since the earliest days of his unparalleled career, has chronicled his friends and cohorts. Whether on the now legendary annual road trips he has organized with a large coterie of twentysomethings documenting summertime exploits or documenting the early gritty years in downtown New York, McGinley is known as the consummate storyteller about freedom and abandon of youth. A few years ago, however, he wanted to challenge his creative habits and asked more than one hundred of his friends and colleagues -- guided by detailed instructions and a camera given to them by the artist--to take nude self-portraits using mirrors and other props. Though related to the ubiquitous selfie, the participants didn't have the benefit of seeing the image before they clicked the shutter. Furthermore, McGinley would make the selection of the final image to represent the photo session. The experiment yielded scores of intimate and psychologically revealing photos that--even though not done by his own hand--bear some signature McGinley flourishes in their emotional depth and resonance.

About the Author:

Ryan McGinley is a New York-based artist who was raised in New Jersey. After moving to the city, he began extensively photographing in the East Village. At the age of twenty-five, he became the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Over the last ten years, McGinley has traveled continuously throughout the United States to create work that incorporates nude figures active within the American landscape. McGinley frequently has solo gallery and museum exhibitions around the world. His work is included in the prestigious collections of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C., among many others. Ariana Reines is a poet, playwright, performing artist, and translator.

The Kids Are Alright der Titel von Ryan McGinleys erstem, noch handgemachtem Buch, das 2000 seine erste Photoausstellung in einer leerstehenden Galerie in SoHo begleitete, könnte für sein gesamtes bisheriges Werk stehen. Der 1977 geborene Shooting Star der New Yorker Photoszene hat sich seit seinen Anfängen unter seinesgleichen bewegt, den Kids in downtown New York, Jugendlichen bei Ausflügen aufs Land seine inzwischen legendären Roadtrips , und auch im Studio arbeitet er mit nicht-professionellen, jungen Modellen. Es geht um das Lebensgefühl von Jugendlichen seiner Generation, die Spaß haben, sich treiben lassen, die ganz hedonistisch den Sommer genießen und nackt herumtollen. Dunkle Seiten bleiben ausgespart, sieht man von den Kratzern und Schürfwunden ab, die beim Springen von Felsen oder durch Baumwipfel kaum zu vermeiden sind. Das Whitney Museum of American Art zeigte McGinleys Photographien bereits 2003; er war damit der jüngste Künstler, der in diesem ehrwürdigen Haus jemals eine Einzelausstellung hatte. Seitdem ist er international gefragt und stellt weltweit in Galerien und Museen aus. In dieser ersten umfassenden Monographie setzen sich drei prominente Autoren mit dem Phänomen McGinley auseinander: die Schriftstellerin Chris Kraus, der Künstler und Autor John Kelsey und der Independent-Filmemacher Gus Van Sant, Regisseur u.a. von Drugstore Cowboy und My Private Idaho.

Capturing the hedonistic adventures of New York City downtown habituées, groups of twentysomethings in various American landscapes, or the human body in the pared-down atmosphere of his studio: Ryan McGinley understands and chronicles his own generation as no artist has before him. This first major monograph presents a survey of his career to the present day.