published: 8 /
9 /
2022
Dastardly travels to the D'Stassi gallery in Shoreditch to hear legendary rock photographer Bob Gruen talk about some of the iconic images on display in a new exhibiton.
Article
Bob Gruen and Leee Black Childers: 'Legendary Moments'
Photography exhibition at D’Stassi Art, 12-18 Hoxton Street N1 6NG
July 29th to August 19th 2022
If the 1970s were a pimple that burst on Punk in 1976 then Bob Gruen’s and Leee Black Childers’ photos perfectly capture the transformation from the preening, prancing rock gods of Bowie and Jagger to the blood-spattered Sid Vicious at the Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas in 1978.
Sadly Leee’s no longer with us but Bob is very much here tonight in Shoreditch’s D’Stassi Gallery and as he says himself, he was “in the right place at the right time.” Virtually all the time it seems looking round at the iconic, era-defining snaps on show. There’s Led Zeppelin, posing in front of their private Boeing Jet, there’s Lou Reed, cropped bottle blonde plus aviators, there’s The Clash on stage looking like gunslingers at some frontier shoot out and there’s Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious clowning on a plane to Brussels in ‘77.
It’s hot down here in the basement as Bob removes his jacket and reads a few stories about some of the pictures. It may sound like he’s told these stories on many occasions before but the details are still compelling. Notably his 1973 New York jaunt to photograph Salvador Dali and Alice Cooper as they are captured in a hologram. Perhaps unsurprisingly Dali has brought with him some props...a diamond-encrusted necklace worth about $30 million in today’s money and a ceramic sculpture of a human brain decorated with ants, oh and a security guard with a machine gun to make sure the necklace doesn’t wander. The brain, he announces is ‘The Pop Star’s brain’ as he holds it above Alice’s head. As you can imagine it’s quite a shot.
As are some of the previously unseen works by the late Leee Black Childers also unvieiled tonight. These include rare images of an impish Debbie Harry before she was blonde, the only shots in existence of the Sex Pistols on stage in Manchester and Leeds during their notorious “Anarchy” UK Tour and the King himself, Elvis flashing his inimitable sideburn/grin combo at a 1972 press conference.
However, for all the fully-formed iconography on show perhaps the most haunting picture of all is of a young 8-year-old kid on stage playing the congas. He’s lost in the moment and unaware of the fairy tale / horror story just around the corner. His name is Michael Jackson but for now he’s just a kid having fun in a photo.
Band Links:-
https://www.bobgruen.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?i
https://twitter.com/bobgruen01
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leee_Bla
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=
Play in YouTube:-
Picture Gallery:-
