Category Archives: Past

Quentin Crisp In Black And White

Photographs by Martin Fishman (1937–2010)

A Celebration of Two Imaginative Lives!

16-30 June, opening reception Thursday June 17th 6-8pm

“I photograph every possible aspect of human life. A famous movie director said an artist never looks away. I never look away.”

~ Martin Fishman

Presented as a celebration of the artistry and lives of both men, QUENTIN CRISP IN BLACK AND WHITE: Photographs by Martin Fishman, offers no rainbow flags. No welcome mats of glory and fame. No bright celebratory moments of excess and inebriation. Just pure, black-and-white photographic honesty. Simple as that. Each image captures a solid fact harshly spoken, but that is what Martin Fishman’s photographs often show, the harsh truth of being. And that is what his photographs of Quentin Crisp offer to us. This rare personal glimpse into the life of Quentin Crisp and his “profession of being” offers us a black-and-white honesty of a familiar icon seen as a human being. Each print is unique in that it captures an intimate and personal moment, often in Quentin’s home, and with glances suggesting mini invasions. Thus, we are provided Mr. Fishman’s slight wink of paparazzi-like moments with Mr. Crisp doing ordinary things. And many of these images have never been seen before! Marty’s friendship with Quentin Crisp resulted in hundreds of beautiful and informal portraits of Mr. Crisp at his home and around New York City, which are now housed with Crisperanto: The Quentin Crisp Archives (crisperanto.org). Curator Phillip Ward, with Paula Fishman and Abraham Lubelski, presents QUENTIN CRISP IN BLACK AND WHITE: Photographs by Martin Fishman at Broadway Gallery NYC from June 17–30, 2010. All images were selected for printing by Fishman and printed by friend and fellow photographer, Y.Nagasaki. Martin Fishman’s photography speaks loudly and often with a gentle nod of respect, yet with an acknowledgement of what the harsh truth of a camera’s lens can make of a subtle moment in time. Born in 1937 and raised on Pitt Street and then Brighton Beach, Fishman saw in youth how life would shape his eye’s focus in years to come. Marty developed a passion for photography in high school and that passion remained with him for the rest of his life. He remained an active and productive photographer until his death on February 3, 2010. A native New Yorker, photographer Martin Fishman’s work has appeared in an array of newspapers, magazines, periodicals, books, and Internet. His photographs appeared in the New York Times, Time Out New York, and The Sun. And his images depicting New York City’s nightlife was published in Japan’s Blonde and Friday News magazines. His photographs appear in the books: Cross, Deviant Desires, Miss Vera’s Finishing School For Boys Who Want To Be Girls, and in the memorial tribute book, An Evening for Quentin Crisp (March 2000).

Mr. Fishman exhibited at Ariel Meyerowitz Gallery, Art@Large, East Fourth Street Photo Gallery, The Emerging Collector, Focus II Photography (also was the director), The Leslie-Lohman Gallery, Limelight Gallery, Synchronicity Art Gallery, and Rafaella on Ninth, and Caffe Rafaella. His photographs are in several museum and private collections. His photographs have appeared in exhibits presented by Phillip Ward and Crisperanto: The Quentin Crisp Archives: Quentin Crisp: London & New York (2000); Quentin Crisp: Portraits of a Legend (2001); Quentin Crisp: The Naked Bon Vivant (2002); Of Quentin Crisp: Photographs from the Quentin Crisp Archives (2002); Martin Fishman: Faces of Wigstock (2003); and Martin Fishman: Pride On Christopher Street (2005).

QUENTIN CRISP (1908–1999) is the author of the classic—and flamboyantly eccentric—coming-of-age memoir The Naked Civil Servant. The award-winning film version of The Naked Civil Servant, starring John Hurt, made him an instant international celebrity. Crisp also wrote numerous books and articles about his life and his opinions on style, fashion, and the movies. Often hailed as the 20th-century Oscar Wilde, Quentin Crisp was famous for his aphoristic witticisms. He performed his one-man show, An Evening with Quentin Crisp, to acclaim in theaters around the world, all the while spreading his unique philosophy: “Never keep up with the Joneses; drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper.” During the second part of his one-man show, Crisp answered questions from the audience and gave advice to audience members about how to find their individual style and live a happy life. He was always in the “profession of being”. Quentin Crisp was Oscar Wilde’s perfect descendant. With his calculated caustic words, open homosexuality and wittily provocative attitude toward any kind of conventionality, Crisp caused a bit of a stir in conservative England during the 1950s and 1960s, and even on through the 1970s. In 1981, Quentin Crisp moved to New York City, bringing along his familiar and witty remarks and his eccentricity. Quentin Crisp charmed everyone and became “the face of a modern rebel”. Throughout his near twenty-year tenure on Manhattan, Mr. Crisp wrote a variety of books, reviews, appeared in several movies (most notably playing Elizabeth I in Sally Ann Potter’s Orlando) and otherwise delighted us publicly and privately with his inimitable grace, wit and genius. Quentin Crisp died on the eve of touring his one-man show in Manchester, England, on November 21, 1999. To learn more about “all things Quentin Crisp”, visit his official web site at Crisperanto: The Quentin Crisp Archives at crisperanto.org.

PHILLIP WARD was Quentin Crisp’s personal assistant, dresser, typist, escort, and travel companion during the 1980s and until Mr. Crisp’s death in 1999. As literary and estate executor for Quentin Crisp, he organized and produced the memorial “An Evening for Quentin Crisp” at Cooper Union’s Great Hall on March 3, 2000 and co-edited Quentin Crisp 1908-1999, the memorial tribute book. He is archivist and curator of Crisperanto: The Quentin Crisp Archives (crisperanto.org and quentincrisp.com), and editor of Quentin Crisp’s final book, The Dusty Answers (unpublished). Mr. Ward is a consultant and researcher, curator, multimedia artist, photographer, poet, and writer. His writings and photographs have appeared in an array of magazines, journals, books, and Internet, including group exhibitions in New York and Japan. And is co-editor of Van Gogh’s Ear, a literary journal and joint publication of Allen Ginsberg’s New York’s Committee on Poetry and French Connection Press. Mr. Ward was consultant and contributor to “Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones” at Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2009) and An Englishman in New York (2008/2009, Quentin Crisp biopic with John Hurt). Also consultant, researcher, and contributor to Richard Connolly’s book Quentin Crisp: I’m An Englishman In New York (2003) and for the Serbian translation of Quentin Crisp’s The Naked Civil Servant. He is a contributing photographer to The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Schools Concert” series at the Royal Festival Hall, London, November 2009, Teachers Resource Pack; Berlinale’s 2009 Teddy Awards Programme; and Christopher Pullen’s Gay Identity, New Storytelling and The Media (2009). Mr. Ward curated “Quentin Crisp: The Naked Bon Vivant! A 100th Birthday Celebration!” (2009); “Of Quentin Crisp: Photographs From The Quentin Crisp Archives” (2002, co-curated with Pet Silvia); “Quentin Crisp: The Naked Bon Vivant” (2002); “Quentin Crisp: Portraits of a Legend” (2001); and “Quentin Crisp: London and New York” (2000). He conceived and produced the multimedia event “Imitation of Crisp: A Happening in the Profession of Being!” at Envoy Enterprises in February 2010.

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Artists at Home and Abroad

June 1-15th 2010
Preview June 3rd 6-8pm

The Artists at Home and Abroad exhibition is a representation of both emerging and established artists on an international scale. Exploring everything from the intersection of abstraction and figuration to the significance of high and low art, each participant creates an entirely different perspective within the cultural sphere of the art world.

Global Arts Projects “Artists at Home and Abroad” is a group exhibition which spotlights a selection of artists from around the globe who each create new global perspectives with their art. The salon-style exhibition will feature artists from all over the world, in a unique and dynamic visual dialogue.

The exhibition will be on display at Broadway Gallery, in conjunction with several Internet projects, and a print catalog. The exhibit will offer writers and viewers the chance to submit essays and comments on the nature and significance of biennials, fairs and public exposure for new and emerging artists. Featuring many artists working with both new and old mediums, The Artists at Home and Abroad exhibition offers a platform for artists, curators, gallerists as well as writers to voice their ideas on the contemporary art world.

Featuring Sabine Helgesson, Nina Gamsachurdia, Lilo Scheuer-Hagenmüller, Elisa Schaar, Carla Elena, Beatrix Pirchner, Aghzout Abdelkhalek, Timothy Hutchings, Kim Jung Woon, Isabel Klotz and Wolfgang Ryan