Description:
Photographer Ari Marcopoulos has made a career of capturing life on the cultural edge. From his beginnings as an artist working for Andy Warhol, Marcopoulos has been drawn to those who work and live outside of their contemporary society. Some of his more famous subjects include William Burroughs, the Beastie Boys, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In Transitions and Exits, Marcopoulos covers the life and times of the world's top young snowboarders with contemplative portraits, mountainous landscapes, and daredevil action shots. The faces of these athletes lie somewhere between wholesome and ragamuffin, and they deliver us into a fascinating world of modern Peter Pans, filled with video games, black eyes, cheap beer, and cigarettes. But beyond the mere stuff of adolescents lies boyishness with a cause. Marcopoulos explains: "They are political in the way they shape their existence. Their lifestyle is financed by corporations and yet they live by their own rules outside of social norms.... In snowboarding there is nothing better than breaking the rules." The photographs illustrate a commitment to natural beauty, adventure, and athletic perfection, as well as capturing the family-like clan that develops in the many off-hours. Included is an enlightening interview between the photographer and curator-writer Louise Neri. --J.P. Cohen
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