In New York, Daniel Cooney Fine Art presents a solo exhibition of Don Herron’s “Tub Shots”, a series of portraits of underground luminaries pictured in their bathtubs dated 1978–1993. The 65 vintage black and white photographs create a complex landscape of the bohemian creative community circa 1980’s. Herron stated simply to the Village Voice in 1980, “I decided to do a series of photographs of people in containers. The bathtub was the logical container to use. I started with my friends and it grew from there”.
Within the exhibition the viewer will discover iconic figures such as Keith Haring, Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cookie Mueller, Peter Berlin, Charles Busch, Ethyl Eichelberger, Annie Sprinkle, Mink Stole and the legendary Holly Woodlawn among many others. Herron truly captured the camp, the glamour, the joy and the tragedy that the creative community experienced at this tumultuous time.
To create the images, Herron collaborated with his subjects to set the stage. Some simply sat in their tubs as they were, others created tableaux’s and costumes, some used water, some used packing peanuts and played shell games. Many expose themselves freely, others conceal themselves with mannequin limbs or bubbles. Herron expresses the fun and free spiritedness of the process with his collaborators. The show will be accentuated with provocative and poignant written memories from the subjects of their experiences being photographed and the time in their lives.
Don Herron (1941-2012) was born in Brenham, TX. He received a BA and an MFA (1972) from the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to San Francisco in 1972 where he started the “Tub Shots” series. In 1978 he moved to New York and became a part of the East Village art scene and continued the series. Herron then moved to Newburgh, NY in the mid 80’s and became an active member of the Historical Society and avidly wrote articles for local newspapers. The “Tub Shots” have been published in the Village Voice, New York Magazine and Art Forum. The Chrysler Museum, The Aldrich Museum and the University of Texas have collected Herron’s work.
Don Herron – Tub Shots
September 13 – November 3, 2018
Daniel Cooney Fine Art
508 – 526 West 26th Street, #9C
New York, NY 10001
