I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of college students spend too much time on facebook. Everyone always gets excited when a new picture of them is tagged, or when they realize their camera is full therefore a new album creation is paramount. It’s a fact really. Teens love taking pictures of their friends and having pictures taken of themselves. Ryan McGinley is in the same mindset except he is not as keen to the limelight as some may suggest. He is part of a new genre of portraiture where the artist simply takes pictures of the people he hangs out with. McGinley however, is the first artist aside from maybe Nan Goldin or Terry Richardson to really embrace this new movement and do so innovatively while instilling in his audience the essence of being a risky voyeur in contemporary America.
McGinley was raised in New Jersey and grew up as a typical teenage skater kid whose rebel side was worn on his sleeve. In a February 2008 interview with The Believer McGinley claims that skateboarding has provided an inspiration for his work, and that it “is a lot like photography because skateboarding is making something out of nothing.” Skateboarding also gave McGinley a reason to explore. His eagerness to skate brought him to grungy areas of the Lower East Side, the business oriented midtown, the ghettos in Brooklyn, and eclectic neighborhoods in the Village. What McGinley gained more than anything else was exposure to different cultures present throughout the city and the infinite possibilities of independence.
McGinley also gained exposure to the world of homosexuality (he himself is gay) through his brother who was a drag queen living in Manhattan during the period of McGinley’s teenage years. In 1994 however, his brother passed away as a result of AIDS. McGinley seems surprisingly upbeat about the darker aspects of his life in that his work does not have a truly pessimistic or dark sentimentality unlike Nan Goldin or Terry Richardson’s. At the age of 21, when McGinley was a graphic design student at Parsons, he created a book that displayed 50 of his favorite photographs and sent them out to publications, editors, admired artists, and galleries. He seemed at that time to be a bit of an idealist or a hopeful soul. The response he received was overwhelming. He was eventually commissioned to take photographs for publications like the New York Times Magazine, and also given a solo exhibition at the Whitney when he was just 24.
McGinley’s most recent exhibit is titled “I Know Where the Summer Goes,” and is currently being shown at Team gallery in Soho. It is a collection or documentation of the past few summers in his life. I entered the show with the mindset and knowledge that McGinley is only thirty years old and he enjoys recreational drugs; translation: his summers must have been interesting and kooky. As I was making my way around the gallery looking at the stellar photographs that are generally neutral toned with the occasional burst of color whether from the sky or special effects (McGinley uses fireworks and fire quite often), I couldn’t help but think, does McGinley really remember where his summer goes? The people in the photos seem to be completely free yet dazed as if they were on drugs exploring the essence of nature, freedom, spontaneity, and innocence. They couldn’t possibly be living in the moment holding on to absolutely nothing yet still grasp the exact memories of what transpired during their travels. It did not quite make sense yet.
What I saw was an artsy facebook. All I could think about was the reflection of a new genre of photography that has become popular – documenting and photographing personal experiences, peers, and friends. Amateur college students in their spare time who post their photos on the Internet do the same thing. McGinley does this too only he has embraced the movement even more and captured in the process the essence of what he believes teenage life and freedom in America should be – an unscathed adventure where nothing but exploration and an open mind really matter.
McGinley’s images display what life would be like for a group of teenagers if they were the sole people in existence. The background of the photos is not man but rather nature in its untouched, pure, and natural solitude. There is a transcendental euphoria that seems to engulf the minds of McGinley’s friends as they jump through fireworks that radiate bursts of color, and as they run through fields, meadows, and deserts leaving only their footprints with nothing holding them back except their own will.
The general appearance of McGinley’s work seems to at first be like that of a snapshot. However, when looking closely at the poses of his model friends there is a definite sense of calculation or manipulation by the photographer proving that while models can be focused and composed they can also be caught off guard. Its as if McGinley arranged for shoots to occur yet during the process took his photographs when his friends least expected it. As a result we do not see a calculated portrayal of freedom we instead see the real deal – the whole tamale.
There is something extremely erotic about the innocent nudity that stands out in specific images such as Ann (Sand) or Coley (Crater). The nudity that is portrayed is not raunchy at all; it rather re-visits biblical associations of nudity with innocence, purity, and virginity. The most distinguishable or impacting photo in the gallery was Clear Ponchos. Immediately when walking into the gallery, its huge size dominates the viewer’s gaze as to intoxicate him with awe. Drawing closer and closer to the massive picture, each step provides a better insight into what might actually be happening to these two men who appear to be lovers. Their embrace is one of horror, and their facial expression evokes a sense of vulnerability. Furthermore, this is one of the few images that involves a man made object. The lovers are wrapped in a clear poncho as if they are being sealed off by plastic to the rest of the world. They do not seem to have the same freedom as the other friends who gallivant voraciously throughout the countryside. They are trapped in their own love.
There is something extremely American about McGinley’s photos. His childhood skateboarding experiences that served to open his eyes to new ideas and concepts seem to have stuck with him even into his thirties. His eyes are still being widened by what American democracy has to offer its youth. The fireworks that McGinley experiments with serve as a symbol for the quintessential Independence Day ritual of firework shows that are distinctly American and involve the oooo’s and ahhh’s of the American public reveling in celebration. There are no boundaries that can be seen here, nor does McGinley think they should exist. What is expressed is a voyeuristic “fuck it” youthful experience where everything is bohemian, everything goes, and there are no limitations. The infinite aspect to McGinley’s work reflects his mindset regarding the boundless characteristics of freedom as it exists in nature and in childhood.
The seriousness that is present in so many other collections throughout New York is not visible here. Instead we get the work of a man who has made his name by being up to what most of middle class America would deem mischief – no good. Maybe the euphoria that permeates McGinley’s photos is not a result of drug usage, smoking, or excessive drinking, but rather an overdose of freedom and the American experience.
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