Ethan James Green Had a Lot to Celebrate This Week! A Vogue Cover and New Exhibition/Book “Bombshell”
Piercing eyes, dramatic cityscapes, and the beauty of longtime friendship accompany the imagery of photographer Ethan James Green’s latest work, “Bombshell”–an exhibition and photography book featuring peers reinterpreting the titular concept.
At the launch event for the show at the Tribeca-based Kapp Kapp gallery, there was a certain magic to viewing the artist’s subjects (many were in attendance) conversing, sipping orange wine, and taking in the work that they’d contributed their vulnerability to. Out-of-town guests that had touched down for New York Fashion Week milled about with downtown locals in a satisfying fashion-meets-art world synergy.
“I’m really excited. I don’t usually get to see my work in this printed format, so to see it like this, it feels like it’s in its final form,” Green said at the opening, as supporters and friends embraced him and compared notes on the presented works.
The photos embody each subject’s personal perspective on the notions of the bombshell, from feminine glamour to sex appeal and beyond. The goal is subversion, and Green, known for his work in biographical, piercing black-and-white portraits, delivers on the theme in bold demonstration.
In one work, a dark-haired Hari Nef, the actress, model, and longtime friend of Green, gazes down at a cigarette longingly in a dark up-do and dainty earrings. In another, Interview’s Fashion Director Dara Allen poses and experiments with arm movements in front of a Parisian tableau.
Allen, in a vintage Yankees jersey, corset, ripped fishnets, and bright yellow rendition of her classic pixie cut, shared with a smile, “This was so personal, intimate, and fun. We learned how to let each other play out our wildest fantasies, and it’s so cool to see it hung up on a wall and in the book.”
The festivities continued with an intimate afterparty at the artist’s studio, where guests mingled, ran downstairs for a smoke, and celebrated the latest of Green’s comprehensive oeuvre. In attendance were previous Kapp Kapp exhibitor Emilio Tamez, a kindred photographer and contemporary, as well as fashion commentator Lyas, arrived from Paris for the fashion week rigmarole.
The exhibition, which will run until October 26, arrives alongside a limited-edition book published by Baron Books, with contributions from talent including Ben Kelway, the creative director of Arena Homme Plus and POP Magazine, and an essay by Devan Diaz, a previous contributor to publications including Artforum, Los Angeles Times, Vogue, and The Guardian.
