Richard Kern is why you think she’s pretty. No, really. With a penchant for topless idiosyncratic beauty, Richard Kern’s work has helped inspire how an entire generation sees beautiful. Pioneer of that dreamy, druggy Vice aesthetic, over his long career the New York artist has defined voyeuristic photography, and his early short films helped build the Transgression movement. Drawing inspiration from the Lower East Side, Kern has exhibited at MOMA and The Whitney, is a collaborator with everyone from Rita Ackerman to Sonic Youth, and makes the occasional porno.

Studio Gallery, always so on top of shit they’re practically inventing it, will play host to a retrospective of Kern’s work-from soft portraits of pretty girls to tough images of chicks with dicks and leather corsets. Opening this weekend, with a conversation between the artist and zombie porno man Bruce La Bruce, the exhibition will span Kern’s career, and the fabulous tits that have graced his lens.

Kern: A Retrospective. Saturday, May 1st to Sunday, May 30th
Opening Reception;
Saturday May 1st, 6 – 11pm
Artist will be in attendance. This is a free event.
Please RSVP for the opening reception by email to avery@studio.to or call 416-832-3933
Artist Talk and Book Signing:
Sunday, May 2nd, 7 – 9pm at the Drake hotel Underground
This evening will include a conversation between Bruce La Bruce and Richard Kern. Q&A to follow.
$10 admission. Books will be available for purchase
First Film Screening: Saturday May 15th, 7-10pm
$5 admission. Includes full exhibition and curator introduction.
Second Film Screening: Saturday, May 22nd, 7-10pm

Studio Gallery, 294 College St. 2nd Floor.