Ryan McGinley
On the photo -
Lissy has always been the most beautiful woman in downtown NYC, I’ve always thought she resembles my favorite actress Sissy Spacek. This photo was taken at the infamous gay bar, The Cock, on 12th Street & Avenue A, we took it for a lesbian zine in 2002. When I had my breakout museum exhibition at The Whitney a year later, it was displayed in subways, bus stops, and hung in the museum. In the image, the IRAK graffiti crew had tagged the astronaut wallpaper next to the urinals. Lissy & I dragged my mini trampoline over to the bar, and bounced while the bartenders were setting up. She jumped around nude for about a half hour under the fluorescent lights and we created an iconic image together.
About Ryan McGinley -
Ryan McGinley is a New York–based photographer. His early photos displayed the unseen intersection of Skateboard and Graffiti culture with a strong Queer focus. At the age of twenty-five, he became the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. For more than a decade McGinley has road tripped continuously throughout the United States to create work that incorporates the human body within the American landscape. You can always find Ryan on the streets of NYC doing Queer activism fighting for LGBTQ rights. McGinley frequently has solo gallery and museum exhibitions around the world. A recent GQ article declared McGinley, "the most important photographer in America."
