Michael Petry, author, artist and Director of
the Museum of Contemporary Art in London talks about his new book “Nature
Morte: Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still-Life Tradition” with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of
OUTTAKE VOICES™.
“Nature Morte” reveals how leading artists of the 21st century are
reinventing still life, a genre traditionally associated with 16th and
17th century Masters. Among the artists represented in the book are John
Currin, Saara Ekström, Elmgreen & Dragset, Renata Hegyi, Damien
Hirst, David Hockney, Gary Hume, Jeff Koons, McDermott & McGough,
Beatriz Milhazes, Gabriel Orozco, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood and Cy
Twombly. On December 17th, the Sundaram Tagore Gallery at 547 West 27th
Street in New York City will be hosting a book party event for “Nature
Morte” from 6P to 8P. Petry and the New York-based artists who appear in the book will
be in attendance. We talked to Michael about his new book and his spin
on our LGBT issues.
Originally from Texas, Michael has lived in London since 1981. When
asked what it’s like living in the UK since the passage of the Equality
Act in 2010 Petry stated, “I would first say that I don’t know that we
have full LGBT rights in the UK. I mean a group called Stonewall
definitely would say that there’s still a lot of work to fight for but
in comparison to what’s going on in the States, yes it’s easier to say
we have full equality. One of the things that just happened is we have
an Olympic Diver Tom Daley who just came out and fortunately it was not
that traumatic for him, but he was definitely suffering from online
troll behavior in some people making really bad comments about him. He’s
got a TV show coming out soon and I think he just wanted to put to bed
that kind of bullying. I think for those of us in the West it’s
important to remember even when you have legal rights that doesn’t
necessarily mean that your life is going to be a ‘bowl of cherries’ but
equally it’s a darn sight better than most people have in Africa and of
course Russia and lots of other places. The second thing is I have been
involved with so many aspects of LGBT history over the years whether
it’s to do with HIV/AIDS, preservation of historical information or
writing specifically about work made by our community. I’m 53 years-old
and I’ve been active as an adult for over thirty years.”
Michael Petry graduated Rice University in Houston, received his Masters
from London Guildhall University and has a Doctor in Arts from
Middlesex University. Petry has authored numerous books since 1994
including “Hidden Histories: 20th Century Male Same Sex Lovers In The
Visual Arts” in 2004, which was the first comprehensive survey of its
kind. His one man show The Touch of the Oracle at the Palm Springs Art
Museum in 2012 was accompanied by a ten year career review book
distributed by Thames & Hudson which is also the publisher of his
new book “Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still-Life
Tradition”.
For More Info: michaelpetry.net
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