50mm Los Angeles

Boys and Dogs

HOLD UP ART PRESENTS
THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF SUNNY BAK
IN A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION ENTITLED
Boys and Dogs

OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Exhibit runs through November 1, 2011

at
Hold Up Art
358 E. 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Hold Up Art presents Boys and Dogs, a collection of works by world
renowned photographer Sunny Bak. Her photos of the Beastie Boys and the
“Licensed to Ill” tour solidified Sunny’s place as a serious rock and celebrity
photographer. Simultaneously, her love of animals, especially dogs, led to the
creation of the best selling People Magazine parody, Pupple. These two
diverse collections of images represent the work that have defined Sunny’s
career.

“It's been 25 years since I looked at the images I shot of the Beastie Boys in
NYC with Garrett Simmons when we were working on a book called Pupple,”
says Sunny Bak of this new exhibition. “This show is part retrospective and
part looking toward the future as Garrett and I are working on a follow up to
the original Pupple. It's an homage to the beasty in all of us.”

Photographing celebrities since high school, Sunny has shot celebrities like
Madonna, 10,000 Maniacs, Gregory Peck, Keanu Reeves, Seth Green, and
Carol Alt. She spent time on the road with the up-and-coming The Beastie
Boys on their 1986 “Licensed to Ill” tour. Sunny shot the iconic images that
were featured in the multi-platinum album’s artwork.

“Within the context of our culture, from Kanye, to Banksy to Obama, hip hop is
an undeniable pillar of our culture,” says Hold Up Art curator Brian Lee.
“Though many people overlook the 80s hip hop scene as being dated and
over-played, too much of our contemporary notions of the ‘artist,’ and issues
of ‘anti-authority’ that color the way we perceive the Shepard Fairey's of the
day, are informed directly by the attitude and movement of the genre. Sunny
Bak's photos follow the Beastie's during their late 80s ‘Licensed to Ill’ tour,
offering a very intimate perspective on such a ground-breaking time. Whether
it is our distance in time or the closeness Sunny shared with The Beastie
Boys, Bak's photos bring you closer to understanding who these three guys
really were, aside from their music videos. The photos reveal the personal
side of them, and a universal story of youth, potential, and the American
Dream.”

Sunny’s best-selling book, Pupple, co-created with Garrett Simmons, took a
different look at celebrity photography. She photographed dogs, dressed as
celebrities in a parody of People Magazine. With new celebrities to feature,
Sunny and Garrett are currently working on the follow up to Pupple.

Posted 10.8.11 by Gabe the Saint

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