Walter Maciel Gallery

Walter Maciel Gallery is pleased to present a select group of photographs from Walt Cessna’s Wolfpack! series in conjunction with the West Coast book launch of his new book FUKT 2 START WITH : SHORT STORIES & BROKEN WERD. The gallery introduced Cessna’s work in 2011 with a solo show entitled Joy of Hickesville.  In the back gallery, new video works by Barry Anderson, Rebeca Bollinger, William Edwards and John Jurayj will be shown as part of a group show entitled Video Vault that explores the topic of landscape.

Walt Cessna began his career as a fashion stylist/editor working for notable publications such as Italian Vogue, Vanity, Details, The Village Voice, Interview and Paper. He designed and self-produced a much acclaimed line of men’s and women’s sportswear called Dom Casual.  In 2002, he resumed his role as a photographer and his first project of solarized doll photographs called Get Christy! was presented at Ver Unica in San Francisco.  Since then he has been documenting his vast life experiences on a daily basis and taking advantage of social media to share his vision with a more universal audience.  Cessna is an avid blogger with daily updates shared on Facebook, and Tumblr among others.

Cessna’s photography is unrivaled with his brutally honest ability to capture a certain essence and simple extravagance of each of his subjects.  The overall effect is raw and unapologetic in the form of a distinct yet new and refreshing eroticism.  An apparent intimacy with his subjects comes through with the persuasive and thoughtful posing often with an implied sexual context.  The outcome is imagery that engages our own curiosity and voyeurism at the same time shocking and seducing the senses.  Cessna explores themes of reflection, eroticism, isolation, beauty, machismo and queer culture through portraiture that inspires awe, introspection and lust all in equal measure.  The images range from sexy young men provocatively posed to reveal different parts of their body to strategically placed accessories and props to enhance the scenarios.  His skills as a photographer are not compromised as he artfully employs traditional techniques of light exposure, image contrast and unique composition within the frame.  Often described as a visual junkie, he is an aesthetic magpie who joyfully plunders the realms of photo-journalism, fashion photography, pornography and conventional portraiture to serve as his muse of how he sees the world.

In addition to his exhibition history at Walter Maciel Gallery, Cessna has been included in a group show entitled In Cock We Trust curated by Billy Miller of Straight To Hell zine fame at the Exile Gallery in Berlin and Fukt 2 Start Wit at The Live Fast Gallery in New York.  The opening will feature the West Coast launch if his new book FUKT 2 START WITH: SHORT STORIES & BROKEN WERD complete with autographed copies of the book for sale, collectable exhibition stickers and a DJ.

*Walt Cessna, Photographs from Wolfpack series featuring a Book Release Party of FUKT to Start with: Short Stories and Broken Werd at the opening reception.