Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley, BMX, 2000. Copyright Ryan McGinley

There was an interesting article in last Sunday's New York Times about Ryan McGinley and his evolution as an artist.

"In the beginning Ryan McGinley was known for pictures of his young downtown Manhattan friends. By day he photographed them running, skateboarding, moving, always in motion. By night they were partying, having sex, taking drugs, living fast. 'For me, the reason to go out to a party was to photograph,' Mr. McGinley said about those early pictures . . ."

But things changed.

"'I got to the point where I couldn't wait for the pictures to happen anymore,' he said. 'I was wasting time and so I started making pictures happen. It borders between being set up and really happening. There's that fine line.'"

Or not so fine.


Ryan McGinley, Untitled (Nudes, Van, Horse), 2005. Copyright Ryan McGinley.

"The last two summers Mr. McGinley made pictures on cross-country trips, driving with groups of eight friends, plus two assistants, in two vans. He did research to plan the cinematic settings — including swimming holes and bungee-jumping sites — in which he placed his friends. He assembled booklets with pictures from old physique and nudist magazines to show his models and get them in the mood to pose comfortably and spontaneously for the camera. During the road trips Mr. McGinley shot 20 or 30 rolls of film a day while his two assistants filmed the entire process.

"The group of friends changed at each coast, as did the route they traveled between New York and California. Mr. McGinley paid each model a day rate and paid for everyone’s food and lodging, as well as the flights home. 'The trips are like small film productions,' Mr. McGinley said. 'For a three-month trip it comes close to $100,000 for everything.'”

I don't know. What do you think? Is McGinley making art these days? Or just reality tv?