Heeb

Art Basel, the biggest, most hedonistic art fair of the year, opens today in sunny Miami Beach. It’s famous for the festivities, celebrity appearances and debauchery. In anticipation of the mayhem, we sat down with artist Jeremy Kost, the Polaroid master of celebrity portraits, who can always be found at the best parties. Kost will be exhibiting his new series of intimate photographs in Miami this weekend with his gallery, Conner Contemporary Art. 

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Kost moved to New York in 2004 and has since taken the underground art scene by storm with images of the underground nightlife scene and all its personalities. He talks with us about his influences, the Miami mayhem he’s looking forward to, and why he never photographs hairy Jews.

How do you define fame?

I think fame is a funny word. I made a series of silkscreen paintings that were actually titled ‘Fame’. . . each one of them was one of my polaroids (Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton on the red carpet, Victoria Beckham and so on) of a celebrity who’s generally widely known. The image was inverted and the eyes removed (even further removing the personal connection with the subject), and then silkscreened onto gold painted canvas. The gold was a heavy reference to Warhol’s "Piss paintings" . . . So I guess my point of that is, my relationship to the word and idea of fame is a little funny. Everyone who I photograph, be it a drag queen, a celebrity, a go-go boy or an aspiring model, all seeks fame and validation. It’s just in varying degrees.

"TRL (Lindsay Lohan)"

By the time you picked up a polaroid camera, the medium was already outdated. How did you choose this as your primary method?

I was living in Washington, DC at the time and I was visiting my best friends in New York once a month or so. Pedro [Andrade] (who’s now hosting LXTV in the taxi cabs) had a 600 Polaroid camera on the wall of his apartment and I took it out with me one night to The Cock. He was coat checking and bartending, so I was largely left to fend for myself. The camera became this sort of filter to keep me from actually having to talk to people. I really grew to love it for the texture and emotions conveyed through the colors and their unique qualities. Shortly thereafter, it became my primary medium!

With so many photographers retouching and digitally manipulating their images, do you see your work as a more pure form of image making? Has anyone ever insisted on having any type of retouching done before their portrait was made public?

I won’t allow any sort of retouching or color correction at all, ever. I’ve been showing the original polaroids more and more lately and as a result, the integrity of what that represents is key. I have a show coming up (Anyone Other Than Me) at Conner Contemporary in DC and I think the entire show will be nothing but original polaroids in various forms.

"Marilyn and Dita"

"A Moment with Rainblo at Boys Room"

One of your videos, "Tom and Kate," captures the frenzy of the paparrazi during an encounter with the two movie stars. Do you see yourself as a different kind of paparrazi?

That video really focused on the paparazzi as a sort of ‘firing squad’ . . . invasive, obnoxious and their cameras acting as weapons. The video is shown in ‘green screen’ to give the feeling of a nighttime assult, and you really see the misery in the faces of both Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The video really stays ON the paparazzi from both the set-up through them getting in the car, with desperate last attempts to get that one last image. I don’t see myself as that on ANY level, though some had formerly coined me as an ‘anti-paparazzi’ because I was always invited into things to make my images versus being there when I wasn’t supposed to. 

"Untitled (Missing Myth 3)"

"Blue Eyes (Courtney)"

"Diddy"

You’ve photographed everyone from Tommy Lee to Puff Daddy. How much interaction do you have with your subjects?

I actually have a LOT. Most of the success of my work, I think, is based around the relationships that I build with my subjects — boys, drag queens, celebrities, etc.— the more of a rapport you have, the more you really gain a window into the soul of the subject.

What was it like growing up a nice Jewish boy in Corpus Christi, Texas?

Oh, God, I don’t really remember, but growing up in Houston was interesting. But I honestly never developed much Jewish identity because I grew up in the suburbs. My lovely mother drove us to religious school and bar mitzvah training 45 minutes each way, multiple times a week! Now that’s dedication!

You have a series with various men starting with their clothes and eventually ending up without them. Is it easy to get boys to undress for you?

Again, it all goes back to rapport. Each guy that I shoot, I spend time with in the studio, looking at the work, talking about what it is, talking about their comfort levels . . . My whole process is very respectful and driven by mutual respect and understanding boundaries.

"Objectification (Kyle Just Waking Up, New York) – Detail View"

Most of your models are beautiful, clean, chiseled men. Hairy Jews get no love, huh?

Hate to say it — it does nothing for me!

From the looks of it you go out almost every night—in a sense your lifestyle is your art. Has the scene changed or evolved since you first moved here in 2004? Has the economy slowed the party down at all?

I’ve been going back to making nightlife work more and more. When I found out that I’d be included in the ICP Triennial with that body of work, I got majorly re-inspired to make new work in that context. I’ve been making it quite a bit and also getting lots of hangovers. It surely has [changed], but it feels like people are slightly tired of being boring. Vandam Sundays at Greenhouse is really amazing. I think people buy one less drink, but I don’t think it’s slowing things down. That or they buy less expensive liquor . . . but, man, it’s New York City, people will always go out!

"Amanda Backstage at Heatherette"

"Gypsy Bunny"

 "Untitled (For Protection)"

The influences of Diane Arbus, Andy Warhol and David LaChapelle are present within your work. What other contemporaries inspire you?

Nan Goldin. David Hockney is a major influence on the recent collage work that I’ve been making. But honestly, I don’t like to look at photography. I much prefer looking at sculpture, paintings and drawings. Some of my favorite work lately is by artists like Mickalene Thomas, Rashid Johnson, Agathe Snow, Terence Koh (the performances are fantastic), Ahmed Alsoudani, Kalup Linzy and more!

Tell me about the experience and idea behind your Thailand polaroid series.

It’s a really long conversation, but basically they are all post-op transsexuals living in Thailand. I love that they are so beautiful and that you’d never know that they had been men.

"Not Yet Titled (Transcension, Phuket)"

Your work will be shown this week during Art Basel, the fair with the biggest and best parties all year. I can imagine you’re a kid in a candy store with your camera down there. What are you looking forward to the most this year?

Actually, I brought my camera but not to make artwork at parties! I’ve brought it for my new work, my series with drag queens outside of a nightlife context. And maybe a boy or two. It’s awfully busy already with Design Miami, The Bass Museum, Vanity Fair’s party at MoCA and a dinner at the Rubell Collection!

"Too Much (Vienna)"

"Dash"

How much influence do major fairs like Art Basel have in defining artists as celebrities?

I think quite a bit, but I think it’s much bigger and more complicated than that. I don’t think art fairs can make an artist a celebrity. There’s a lot more marketing, publicity and so forth that goes into it than simply installing a sculpture in a booth.

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