The Young and the Restless

Gustav Bagge — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 10:35:45 +0000

Who is not familiar with Larry Clark’s work? The unrelenting filmography in which “teenagers push the boundaries, in search of an absolute, addicted to the feeling given by their boards when they ride the streets, stairs, empty pools”

The renowned film-maker and photographer Larry Clark does not skirt around the recurring subject matter he chooses. He likes to head straight into the dark maze of teenage life and get right to its heart. A lost generation, but not wasted yet. Sombre expectations… aren’t they usually hope’s vanishing point? Not for Clark: he demands a 360-degree panoramic view of the invisible burn that consumes our savage society without regret. Those kids distort life on their boards, drawing fast-approaching death ever closer. They face HIV, poverty and no future, and Clark immortalises them on film.

The most emblematic of these films can be seen in the inspiring collaboration that Clark has struck up with Eugène Riconneaus, a footwear designer as fond of urban wear and liberty as Clark is. Their first encounter led to a pair of skate shoes designed by Clark for Riconneaus’s brand. Now, it is Riconneaus who has left his tracks on Clark’s work, seen in a collection of iconic photographs – the former multiplying, at every move, the intoxicating intensity of the latter’s artistry.

Only a few weeks ago, many people rode over to 2 rue des Francs Bourgeois, Paris, to feast on these images at Géraldine Postel’s gallery, Outcasts Incorporated. It was Postel herself who gave us the above quote about Clark’s output. Hers is a location to remember – exhibitions there are always surprising, passionate and memorable.

Credits:

Words by Sophie Faucillion and Julien Millet

Photography by Larry Clark and Eugene Riconneaus

gummo – The Forumist

The Young and the Restless