BRUCE OF LOS ANGELES: INSIDE/OUTSIDE

New York City, NY: Antinous Press, 2008. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. New York City, NY: Antinous Press, 2008. Hardcover. Fine/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 232 pages. Retrospective collection of male nudes. One of the most beautiful books on the photographic art and achievement of Bruce of Los Angeles. Limited Slipcased Edition of 2500 copies. The first and only edition. An elegant and sumptuous production by Samuel Nicholas: Oversize-volume format. Tan hard boards with photographic reproduction on the cover and titles on the spine, as issued. Photographs by Bruce of Los Angeles. Essay by Vince Aletti, the eminent photography critic of the New Yorker Magazine. DVD Collection of 12 digitally restored films by Bruce attached on the Inside Back Cover. Matching tan slipcase with black titles printed on both sides. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper by Graphicom in Vicenza, Italy to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is outstanding in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, n a handsome collectible format, "Bruce of Los Angeles: Inside/Outside". Some of the legendary photographer's legendary male nudes. The images are reproduced in all their neon-light, bright colors on the right-hand side, in two parts: "Inside" (Bruce's LA studio) and "Outside" (Nature settings) . The running motif is Bruce's fascination and obsession with the eroticism of the American "Cowboys And Indians" frontier-myth. Except for what appears to be exactly the same red string bikini, the models are nude, bedecked in hats, Indian feathers, bows, arrows, guns, knives, and other costumes and props identified with the American West. Bruce was careful, however, to make sure that they did not get in the way of the full-frontal nudity. His models' poses consciously evoke the Classical past, and in this sense, he reminds one of von Gloeden, whose pastiche art was once described by Roland Barthes as a "carnival of contradictions", just as Bruce's surely was, too. Bruce had The Eye: He discovered Joe Dallesandro, his single most famous model and Andy Warhol's superstar/muse, among so many others. His residual influence is unmistakable to this day: The All-American boy/man good looks have attained universal status as the symbol of masculine beauty and desirability, belying the "diversity" people celebrate when they talk of the 21st century. Even a radical voice such as Dennis Cooper grudgingly acknowledges this fact: "Bruce's influence on everyone from Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, and Bruce Weber to Cindy Sherman and Laurie Simmons reveals the artist's manipulations in order to circumvent the suspicious and censorious of his time" (Dennis Cooper) . An absolute "must-have" title for Bruce of LA collectors. This copy is one of the Limited Slipcased Edition of 2500 copies, indicated as such on the Copyright Page. This title is a great erotic art photography book. This is one of few copies of the Limited Edition still available online and despite its imperfection (a bump on the slipcase, NOT affecting the book itself, but it's there) is still in fine condition overall: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. 100 color plates. One of the mos brilliant photographers of the male nude of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER BRUCE OF LOS ANGELES AND JOE DALLESANDRO TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1576874699.