Larry Clark sells photographs for £100 as ‘a pay back to all the skate rats’

Kids director Larry Clark is holding a rather unusual exhibition in London, for which he’s opened up his archive of hundreds of photographic prints – all on sale for £100 each.

Larry Clark photographs

Source: courtesy the artist and Simon Lee Gallery.

Larry Clark photographs

 

It’s more a jumble-sale style setup than a gallery: the walls are white, and a wooden crate is in the middle of the space stacked with piles of images for visitors to rifle though as they wish.

Installation image from the New York show

Source: James Stone Photo, New York

Installation image from the New York show

All the images were captures between 1992 and 2010, and many were taken on or around film locations including 1995’s Kids, 2001’s Bully and 2002’s Ken Park. There are also a number of outtakes from a calendar show for skate fashion brand Supreme, nestling alongside more personal portraits of Clark’s friends and travels, as well as a few self-portraits.

Larry Clark photographs

Source: courtesy the artist and Simon Lee Gallery.

Larry Clark photographs

From the many images we managed to rummage through, it became clear that many of these snapshots were very much of their time – all guitars, floppy hair, skateboards and Nirvana posters.

Also – as may come as little surprise – there’s a fair few NSFW images, with a lot of graphic shots of bright young girls and boys being less than shy about their bodies.

Larry Clark photographs

Source: courtesy the artist and Simon Lee Gallery.

Larry Clark photographs

It’s a fascinating show that provides not just an exploration of Clark’s working methods, but the era, too. There’s very 90s Calvin Klein campaign feel to a lot of the shots: there’s no shortage of blonde, curtain-haired boys and faux-naïve girls in nothing but Converse.

Other recurring motifs are scars, tattoos, partying and genitalia.

The idea for the unusual exhibition was born when Clark turned 71, and was deciding what to do with the thousands of images he’d amassed throughout his career.

Installation image from the New York show

Source: James Stone Photo, New York

Installation image from the New York show

Earlier this year, he staged a similar show in New York, with the aim of ‘distributing a large portion of his archive to the friends and fans that have played a central role, sometimes literally, in his career to date’, says the Simon Lee Gallery hosting the London show.

Clark says, ‘[The sale is for] all the kids that came to my shows in thousands and could never afford 10 to 15 thousand dollars for a print…

‘This is a pay back to all the skate rats and collectors who would like a souvenir so I can die happy’.

Larry Clark photographs

Source: courtesy the artist and Simon Lee Gallery.

Larry Clark photographs

Larry Clark £100 Photograph Sale runs from 1 – 6 July at Simon Lee Gallery, 12 Berkeley Street, London W1J 8DT

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