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Misty Keasler’s “Love Hotels” Exhibition
PDNB Gallery Press Release
February 16 - March, 24, 2007 Exhibition at PDNB Gallery - Artist reception: Friday, February 16, 2007 from 6 - 8 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Dallas, TX: Photographs from Misty Keasler’s Love Hotels series explore the strange, kinky rooms of various sex hotels in Japan. Throughout her career Misty’s documentary work has allowed us to peer into the living spaces of orphanages, shanties found in garbage dumps, gypsy dwellings and her own family’s home in East Texas. This photographic essay gives us a view of a much more foreign type of space, where couples stay for hours rather than days. The rooms have themes such as a schoolroom, a subway room, or a Hello Kitty room.
The photographs sometimes subtly disclose S&M devices such as leather shackles, chains, or examination chairs. Some of the rooms are decorated with funny, odd elements including snowmen, igloos, Santa Claus and carousel rides. There is even a Gulliver’s Travels theme room with oversized furniture. All rooms have a handy Karaoke machine for additional entertainment. And some hotels furnish vending machines with sex toys.
This exhibition will certainly offer a strange view of sexual fantasy as perceived by the Japanese. Can the West fully accept Japanese Anime, Karaoke and Hello Kitty sex rooms?
Misty Keasler was awarded the prestigious Lange-Taylor Prize from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. She was also awarded the Dallas Museum of Art’s DeGolyer Grant. Her photographs are in several notable museum collections including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Her first monograph, Love Hotels, has recently been released, published by Chronicle Books. She will have her first museum solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, opening in January 2007. This exhibition will be the artist’s third solo show at Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery.
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#1 nick in japan
"Love Hotels" here in Japan offer a wonderful, high-class STUDIO for all kinds of photography, the trick is to very quick on the set-up procedure,and, carefully planning the event to efficiently utilize the minutes that go by vey qiickly!
The nicest ones I seen have a grand piano, old style tatami tea room, and a jungle motif ( not all in the same room !)
5:37 am - Tuesday, December 19, 2006
#2 Kel
The photos are just OK.
Here they are:
http://www.pdnbgallery.com/artists/keasler/lovehotels/
With these sorts of things, I always wonder whether the photos are actually any good - after all, without the interesting subject matter, there is nothing special about these photos. If someone had told me that these photos were taken once and once only on the first try, without brackets and multiple attempts at getting the right exposure, I might be impressed - but we all know that isn't the case. It's like all those B/W celebrity news photos of that always having exhibits everywhere - the photos are capturing something about that moment, the film stock is nice and the printed paper and quality are good too, but you know, if they weren't famous people, I wouldn't look at those things twice.
Is that what photography is? I don't think so - I've seen some impressive stuff done with photography using technique and skill -
well these hotel room photos aren't them. If they had photos of people having sex in these rooms as well, using exactly the kinds of things that are in there, then I think we might all be very peaked, but alas..........
5:51 am - Wednesday, December 20, 2006
#3 Kel
"Can the West fully accept Japanese Anime, Karaoke and Hello Kitty sex rooms?"
Oh, is that the sort of pompous, self-righteous, racist, prejudiced and xenophobic attitude we're supposed to have when we're looking at these photos? I didn't realize! I'm so sorry about that. I'm sorry I mistook it for art, instead of this trivialized look that this sentence presents.
5:56 am - Wednesday, December 20, 2006