CHICAGO, January 23rd, 2018 — The Leather Archives & Museum is pleased to announce the mounting of a new exhibition in our Guest Artist Gallery ( GAG ) — MEN as seen through the lens of inkedKenny, a retrospective of male erotic/fetish photography. The exhibition runs January 26th through June 7th, 2018.
Opening reception for the exhibition is Friday, January 26th, from 7 to 9 PM. Admission for the reception is free, 21+ only please, and refreshments will be served. The artist, inkedKenny, will be in attendance to talk about his photography and what inspired many of his black-and-white and color images included in the show.
inkedKenny, who resides in Canada — spending most of his time between Toronto and Montreal — has developed a wide-ranging career in photography, working not only in the area of fetish photography, but on style and fashion shoots, as well as celebrity portraits. From an early photography interest in the 1980s ( fueled by a simultaneous interest in barbering ), inkedKenny's work has grown over the decades to include corporate work for Macy's, Nordstrom's, Nike and Levis.
Along the way inkedKenny has worked on such notable faces such as Sandra Bernhardt, Patricia Arquette, Carrie Anne Moss, Monica Belluci & Mia Kirshner. Recent photography work for clients has included Holt Renfrew, Aveeno, Salon Selectives, Pantene, Motorola and Smirnoff. inkedKenny has also been part of the creative direction for event clients such as Cirque de Soleil, the Toronto International Film Festival, J. Lo Lingerie, Elizabeth Arden, Northbound Leather, and M.A.C Fashion Cares.
For the MEN as seen through the lens of inkedKenny exhibition at the LA&M, inkedKenny has selected a range of his erotic/fetish photography from the last several decades, a cross-section of black-and-white and color images that highlight male sexual energy and identity. inkedKenny describes himself as a man who loves men - naked, clothed, but especially naked - both physically and emotionally. When he takes pictures of naked men, he says that love and passion transcends the medium in which he works, and turns those images into art.
"Art goes levels deeper. Art inflames, incites, sparks conversation and debate. Art hits you in the brain pan, the heart, the gut and the crotch, and when it's really good, it can do it all at the same time in the milliseconds it takes for you to draw breath to gasp at its insolence…its magnificence," says inkedKenny.
He says that when you see an image created by someone who has a bone-deep love, a driving passion for what they're shooting, you just…know.
MEN as seen through the lens of inkedKenny runs from January 26th to June 7th, 2018, at the Leather Archives & Museum. Entrance to the exhibit in the Guest Artist Gallery is included in the museum's admission fee. Museum hours are: Thursdays and Fridays, 11 AM to 7 PM; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 AM to 5 PM. Last admission to the museum is ½ hour before closing. Admission is 18+ only; $10 for adults, $5 for students, seniors and military personnel. Every Thursday is a free admission day at the Leather Archives & Museum, though donations are gratefully accepted.
ABOUT LA&M
"Making leather, kink, BDSM, and fetish accessible through research,
preservation, education and community engagement."
The Leather Archives & Museum is dedicated to the compilation, preservation, and maintenance of leather, kink, and fetish lifestyles. Our museum galleries serve to present educational and historical material to an adult audience. Our reading library and archives serve to support researchers and community members in accessing materials and documentation relevant to the history and culture of leather. LA&M is located at 6418 N. Greenview Avenue in the Rogers Park/Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. The museum is open to the public Thursdays through Sundays. For more information on the museum, please visit www.leatherarchives.org .
Started in 1991 by Chuck Renslow, the Leather Archives & Museum was originally located at 5007 N. Clark Street. The museum later moved to 6418 N. Greenview Avenue in 1999, where it has operated ever since. LA&M has been repeatedly named to popular offbeat tourist destination lists ( Chicagoist, RoadTrippers, Atlas Obscura, WBEZ-FM NPR and more ), and it acts as a community hub for adult programming throughout the year, welcoming locals and tourists alike.
The Leather Archives & Museum houses artifacts, art, clothing, research materials and historical exhibits devoted to leather/BDSM/kink/fetish communities across a wide spectrum. A non-lending library is on-site, offering non-fiction, fiction, pulp fiction, art books, comic books/graphic novels and more. LA&M's facility also includes a 164-seat auditorium which is used for public/private events and educational/entertainment programs. As part of the museum's outreach and programming, LA&M hosts events ranging from scholarly lectures to kinky/foreign film festivals, and the museum offers the auditorium to local community groups for use throughout the year.
