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Mr. Winkle Hotel-Motel Nudes
Photographic Works by Lara Jo Regan
January 14th – February 4th,
2006
Fridays and Saturdays 12 p.m.- 5 p.m. Or by appointment
Icon Gallery
1617 Cosmo Street, #312
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 960-0781
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 14th,
5-10 p.m.
The Mr. Winkle Hotel-Motel Nudes, Lara Jo Regan’s latest
photographic series of her prenaturally cute canine, was born out of
downtime during years of Mr. Winkle book tours. The novelty and
strangeness of her celebrity pooch languishing in low budget and luxury
lodgings across the land in between mobbings by his adoring public was
something that Regan couldn’t resist capturing. The project, however, fast
took on unexpected dimensions. “Observing the odd, otherworldly Mr. Winkle
in these spaces somehow put the generic quality of hotels and motels and
the amusing differences between them into even greater relief. The
juxtaposition was both touching and hilarious. Depending on the room rate,
it was like sighting an elf in a discount carpet store or a leprechaun at
the opera.”
The series represents a complete
departure from Regan’s What is Mr. Winkle? photo series that
transformed her rescued mutt into a cult icon through popular cards,
calendars and books in which Mr. Winkle ( typically in costume and posed
in whimsical studio sets) assumes a series of identities playing on his
chameleonic looks. For Regan, though, working on the Mr.Winkle
Hotel-Motel Nudes was like coming home, as the work most closely
resembles the look and feel of the interpretive documentary work on
American culture she was best-known for before winklemania swept over her
life. “I’ve always been drawn to the holiness and humor of the mundane in
the American landscape, and having the opportunity to evoke this with my
beloved muse Mr. Winkle as tour guide was a rich thrill.”
Lara Jo Regan, creator of the Mr. Winkle phenomenon, has also been
a longtime contributor to such publications as Time, Newsweek, Life and
Premiere. Her projects have earned her many of her field’s top
honors, including Pictures of the Year awards and The World Press Photos
of the Year 2000. With a background in anthropology and fine art, her
photographs combine painterly aesthetics with social observation, a style
she has applied to documenting everything for poverty-stricken
Appalachians to the Hollywood elite. Her work has been exhibited
throughout the world and is part of many private collections.
Icon
Gallery is located in the Cosmo Loft structure in Hollywood,
California. Founded in 2005 by Nancy Batlin and Amy Cox, Icon Gallery aims
to exhibit both emerging and established artists, and to provide
groundbreaking artists an unrestrained exhibition space in which to show
their work in its purest form.
For show information:
Icon Gallery 323.960.0781
icongroupusa@sbcglobal.net
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