Art Fag City: Just Pretty, Naked and On Drugs?
Ryan McGinley's "I Know Where Summer Goes" photo exhibition at Team Gallery

Here's an online-exclusive edition of Art Fag City, from our art critic Paddy Johnson. (NB: The exhibition she reviews is viewable here, in case you immediately want to see these attractive naked people she's talking about.)

Ryan McGinley’s critics describe the narrative behind his photographs like this: “My friends are pretty. We get naked in the country. Usually there are drugs. Rad! Subversive!” That his 30-plus photographs of nudes in undeveloped landscapes, currently on display at Team Gallery, might be as vapid as the lifestyle they depict certainly holds weight as a criticism, even if McGinley’s acclaim comes from his ability to transcend the documentary youth culture genre. Earlier photographs — including a picture of a young man riding his bike taken from above in 2000, a 2004 image of a nude woman sipping a drink from a straw in the back of a moving truck, and a number of silhouetted figures captured in the midst of falling — evade the accusations of overly narcissistic photography frequently attached to like-minded photographer Nan Goldin, and at least some of the moral depravity for which Larry Clark has been criticized. At their best, McGinley’s flat, unassuming representations of friends and models exhibit a rare honesty and uniqueness, arguably expanding the lexicon of gay photography. (Read the rest of the article here.)