11/11/12

ANTEBELLUM IS SEVEN YEARS OLD


yes~ ANTEBELLUM~ the gallery i founded way back in 2005, dubbed as "the only fetish art in america, perhaps the world," is now SEVEN YEARS OLD!

they say it takes 5 years for a new buisness to establish itself. i'm not sure what it says once it's reached 7..... perhaps it makes antebellum~ "legitimate."

in any case i would like to reaffrim the reason why i opened antebellum and the antebellum creed~


Steeped in Victorian nuances with a salon style, Antebellum is a casual space for art and engaging conversation. 
Antebellum Gallery is intended as a hybrid of artistic, cultural, and political iconoclasm. 
The term antebellum is latin for, “before war” and while it commonly refers to a more romantic Gone With the Wind era, we find ourselves again today with American culture at odds with political/religious/social agendas that threaten to blow the lid off its foundations at any given moment. 

ANTEBELLUM's manifesto~ our main interest is fetish

*fetish as sexuality
*fetish spirit
*fetish as art
* the history of fetish
* 21st century culture

if you understand your own fetish, you know yourself and the world around you.
antebellum promotes all original ideas and original thinkers.
antebellum is defining & promoting 21st century culture
antebellum brings fetish to the mainstream.
antebellum believes that all ideas and images no matter how initially esoteric or bizarre will eventually become mainstream.


about the curator~
RICK CASTRO is an independent  curator,  filmmaker and photographer working and living in Los Angeles his entire life. Castro explores the world of fetish and fringes of culture. 

My work has been published in artist editions, exhibitions and institutions worldwide. 
I co-directed and wrote  the cult film Hustler White , (1996) and the documentary Plushies & Furries, (2001) for MTV. My photography is in the permanent collections of The Alfred Kinsey Institute and The Tom of Finland Foundation. My books and zines are archived at the UCLA library, and The Leather Museum in Chicago.
I have photographed portraits of the Dalai Lama, (sipping tea) Gore Vidal, Peter Berlin, Alan Poul (producer-Six Feet Under & Tales of the City) and of course my longtime muse, 
Tony Ward.

here are memories from antebellum during the last year~

































ANTEBELLUM~ SINCE 2006~ BRINGS FETISH TO THE THIRSTY PUBLIC

No comments:

Post a Comment