JTF (just the facts): A total of 14 photographic works, framed in black with custom cut grey mats, and hung against white walls in the two room gallery space. Each of the works is made up of a central image and two or three supporting images shown on either side. All of the prints (large and small) are vintage gelatin prints (there is also one chromogenic print mixed in), made between 1977 and 1979. The matted works are each sized 20×27 and are unique. The show also includes three single image prints – 2 vintage gelatin silver prints from 1978 (each 11×14 or reverse) and 1 vintage chromogenic print from 1979 (sized 20×16). (Installation shots below.)

Comments/Context: Back in 1980, Jimmy DeSana had a show of unconventional multi-image portraits at the Stefanotti Gallery here in New York. The exhibit captured a particular moment in local time, mixing together famous subjects like Andy Warhol and William Burroughs with a variety of figures from the downtown art and music (particularly punk and No Wave) scenes. At the time, none of the pictures sold, and the whole show was ultimately purchased by Stefanotti himself and tucked away until now. Recreated here some thirty years later, it’s like opening an artistic time capsule and feeling the fresh energy of those days once again.

DeSana’s approach to portraiture was an unusual hybrid of candid and staged photography. In each work, a larger central image is flanked by two or three smaller pictures, either drawn from the same controlled sitting or gathered from more casual snapshots. The photographs were then matted together by DeSana as one object, the thumbnails often creating a spatial imbalance across the frame. The effect is something akin to momentary facets of a personality, not linear or serial but collapsed together from different vantage points.

While a few of the portraits are highlighted by improvised goofiness (Jack Smith with a plastic vase on his head, Debbie Harry kissing Andy Warhol, critic David Bourdon with a dog), the best of these works play with deep, dramatic shadows that seem to take on a life of their own. Joan Schwartz’ tangled arms soar like a bird in flight and Eric Mitchell’s bent knees are transformed into angular wings. Patti Astor throws her head back creating an extended curve, while Anya Phillips’ spiky hair casts a buzzing shadow. The stagings are theatrical, at once serious and still playfully immediate.

In general, most of these portraits aren’t as artistically memorable as DeSana’s more aggressively subversive staged nudes. But they effectively used the fluid community of artists, writers, musicians, and collectors of the time as dramatic subject matter, capturing the captivatingly unlikely mix of tuxedoes and underground, experimental culture.

Collector’s POV: A matted works in his show are priced at $7500, $9000, or $12000, while the single image prints are $7500 each. DeSana’s work has very little auction history, with only a handful of lots coming to market in the past decade or so. As such, gallery retail is likely the best/only option for those collectors interested in following up.