Ricky Powell: The Silver Anniversary Tour will open at the 58 Gallery July 15th, showcasing Powell's works, which spans his 25-year career as an internationally renowned photographer, host of his own television series, New York City personality, and staple of the hip hop scene.
july 15, 7 - 12 pm
The retrospective exhibition, at the 58 Gallery, includes about 25 photographic prints, as well as many of the magazines and books in which they first appeared. Previously seen at Milk Studios in NYC, the exhibition covers several themes of Powell's work from 1985 through 1994 - the early days of hip hop, pop and graffiti artists, celebrities, and New York life. His recently released double DVD, Rappin' With The Rickster, a compilation composed of the "best of" moments from his popular public access series also will be shown continuously in the gallery.
A lifelong New Yorker, Powell's career began in 1985, when armed only with instamatic camera and his unparalleled wit, he smooth talked his way into a spot on the Raising Hell Tour bus with neighborhood up-and-comers The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. His outstanding work during that period allowed him unlimited access to every notable name in the early hip-hop scene and opened the door for him to join notable tours such as License to Ill in ‘87, Together Forever, Check Your Head in '92, and Lollapalooza '94. The images he captured while on the road and back at home, as Def Jam's official unofficial lensman, are today instantly recognizable and can only be described as iconic within the genre.
Since then his work has been exhibited worldwide, most recently in group shows in Paris and Vancouver. His photographs also have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, the New York Post, the Daily News, The Village Voice, Time, Newsweek, VIBE, The Source, Rolling Stone, Respect and many others.
In addition to his many celebrity photographs (The Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cindy Crawford, Spike Lee), Powell's primary focus was always in documenting the people, places, and scenes of New York as he roamed her streets and crashed her doors.
His photos also appear in Oh Snap! The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell (St. Martins Griffin 1998). Subsequent books have included The Rickford Files:Classic New York Photographs (St. Martins Press, 1999), Frozade Moments: Classic Street Photography of Ricky Powell (Eyejammie Books, 2004) and The Rickford Files: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005 (Powerhouse Books, 2005).
During the early 1990s Powell began another career as host of his own public access television show, Rappin' With The Rickster. Wildly popular in its day, the celebrity and street interview based program, has since gained an enormous cult following which lead to it's rerelease on DVD earlier this month.
In recent years he has been touring the globe staging slide shows of his work to an ever growing international fan base. On opening night, Powell will be hosting the latest incarnation of that show during which he will discuss some of his favorite photographs and talk about his multi-faceted career. He will also be signing copies of his book, Public Access, which will be available at the gallery.
Open through August 15, 2010, the exhibition is organized by Nicholas Boragi, owner of Empire Photo Archives. An expert in the field of vintage photography and consultant to several major American auction houses, his previous work includes the sale of both the San Francisco Examiner and St. Louis Post-Dispatch photo archives.
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