NYC photo exhibit honors Beastie Boys' induction in Rock Hall


Photo by Sunny Bak

"Kings of Rock" Photo Show At Rush Arts Gallery on April 12
Three-Part Event Marks Beastie Boys' Induction to Rock Hall of Fame

Just two days before the Beastie Boys are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, New York's Rush Arts Gallery is marking the occasion with a special photo exhibition and book event. The opening reception will be held at Rush, 526 W.26th Street, Suite 311, on the evening of Thursday, April 12. The show will stay up through Saturday, April 14.

Entitled "Kings of Rock," the show will feature a dozen of Sunny Bak's iconic mid-80s photos of the Beastie Boys, and a complementary selection of photos entitled "Wadeva Images Present Rush Artist Management, 1981 To the Present," featuring the photos of Talib Haqq.

The reception will be preceded from 5 until 7 pm with a presentation and book-signing devoted to Def Jam: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label, featuring Bill Adler and Dan Charnas -- the book's authors -- and Cey Adams, the book's designer. (The Beastie Boys recorded their first album, Licensed to Ill, for Def Jam.) The reception itself will run from 7 until 9 pm.

Sunny Bak, a student of Phillipe Halsman, was shooting the downtown scene for Details magazine when she was introduced to the Beastie Boys in the early 80s. Her best-known photo of them graces the centerfold of Licensed to Ill.

Talib Haqq, like Russell Simmons, came of age in Hollis, Queens. One of the earliest documentary photographers to set his sights on hip-hop, he began shooting many of Russell Simmons's management clients in 1981, starting with Kurtis Blow. He may be best known for the cover of Run-DMC, the debut album by the legendary trio, which features his stark black and white photos.

Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label was published by Rizzoli in October of last year. It was praised in Library Journal as "an extremely readable and browsable book, with glorious photos."

For more information, please contact Charlotte Mouquin at the Rush Arts Gallery: charlotte@rushartsgallery.org or 212-691-9552.

9 comments:

10:20 AM elmo said...

why does all the cool shit happen in NYC?

10:30 AM Mercury said...

Because it's New York

10:46 AM Streetwise said...

I love that Beastie Boys are getting so much recognition right now. It's just sad we haven't heard a peep out of them. I know they're not especially communicative, but you'd think they would say something about the Hall of Fame. Any case, I congratulate them on all the attention and honors. It's well deserved.

11:08 AM Emily said...

I wish I could see the exhibit. I really like Sunny's pics. The pic of Yauch climbing on the venue marquee posted on her website is hilarious.

11:26 AM Jax said...

Is the exhibit going to be shown in any other city?

11:33 AM Hot Sauce said...

@Jax I don't believe Sunny has plans to show the pics anywhere else. She showed them as part of a group exhibit in Venice, California last month.

11:51 AM Mike N said...

The pics on Sunny's website are dope. Was she with Ad-Rock when he got his Silver Surfer tat?

1:27 PM Mercury said...

@Mike N Sure looks like she was

1:57 PM PPL said...

I'm coming in from Jersey to see the exhibit.

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