Art & culture
MORE BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!
Horizon, 2016 by Adey
MORE BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! is a revolutionary book, curated by co-founder Ghislain Pascal and is an evolving focus of works by recognized International photographers, who identify as queer and gay. Emerging as the third edition as part of a continuing collaboration between Paddle8, the pioneering online contemporary auction house, and London’s Little Black Gallery, the release of the book is additionally accompanied by a physical exhibition of artworks by the photographers illustrated inside the pages, all of whom create thought-provoking, avant-garde, and boundary-pushing aesthetics.
Ghislain Pascal vocalizes his joy for the upcoming release, “I am just so pleased that Boys! Boys! Boys! is getting bigger and bigger - with so much amazing talent. I want to continue to push the boundaries and prove that queer and gay photography has a serious place in the art market,” he explains. “With this edition, we are delighted to welcome new photographers from Turkey, Spain, Canada, and Denmark - becoming a truly global project celebrating male sexuality and fine art photography.”
It happens that Pascal’s inspiration towards the creation of Boys! Boys! Boys! Materialized incredibly organically, having previously showcased a very successful exhibition series entitled Girls! Girls! Girls! “I was looking at new ways of promoting my gay photographer Tyler Udall and one idea I had was to start Boys! Boys! Boys! Then I suggested to my friend Joslin van Arsdale Head of Photographs at Paddle8 that she should be selling more photography of boys on Paddle8 and she said why don’t I do it. So it all came together very nicely.”
Self portrait with Leo (I), 2017 STUART SANDFORD
Fingers, 2018 FLORIAN HETZ
Furthermore, Pascal is a gallerist, therefore uniting the book with a physical exhibition resulted as a natural progression, a concept that includes highlights from the three sales at The Hospital Club in London (from 28-30 September). This exhibition has untaken a sizable itinerary that will tour the world, the next stop after London being The Ravestijn Gallery in Amsterdam in March next year.
“The first two Boys! Boys! Boys! sales were not exclusively ‘queer and gay’ photographers” deciphers Pascal, “but I decided that it just made sense to really focus and promote queer and gay photographers primarily, but not exclusively, to a queer and gay market. It just felt the right thing to do since I am a gay man and as someone who collects, and something that nobody else is doing.” With there being a countless array of talented queer and gay photographers amid the industry, who despite attaining a desirable following on social media, in reality, they are still finding it challenging to discover an outlook in the art market. “It is great to put their work alongside gay photo icons like Greg Gorman and Tom Bianchi.”
Amid the pages of the carefully curated release is a dichotomy of photography styles that compliment a cohort of categories, from studio, documentary, and portraiture to fashion, conceptual and lots of boys! In Pascal’s curation, he has intended to curate a large selection of photographers and styles that extend throughout the world, where no two photographers capture the same aesthetics, making the project a global, inclusive and genuinely unique affair.
Catch the exhibition of MORE BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! presented by The Little Black Gallery & Paddle8
at The Hospital Club until September 30th.
words by Katie Farley
