Aaron Cobbett
Aaron Cobbett is a photographer, textile artist, designer, and activist based in Brooklyn, New York. Since 2021, he's been an artist-in-residence at Millay Arts, Yaddo, MASS MoCA, and Open AIR among others[1]. His work has been shown at The Leslie-Lohman Museum, The New York Historical Society, The FIT Museum, and The Louvre[2]. In 2022, he was named "Artist of the Month" and later "Artist of the Year" by The Artist's Forum[3][4]. He names his artistic themes as "human social structures and the breakdown thereof. Language, queerness, animism."[3] Art historian Martha Schwendener has described his work as "highlighting the precarious and performative nature of both glamour and gender"[5]. His art has caused controversy for being "too gay"[6].
Aaron Cobbett has released two monographs, Super Eros , published in 1999 by Bruno Gmunder, and COBBETT, published in 2008 by H&O.
Photography
Cobbett moved to New York City in the late 1980s, and began documenting the underground queer club scene while working as a window dresser at Bergdorf-Goodman and attending NYU[7]. Much of Cobbett's work at this time was in direct contrast to images of gay men suffering that were proliferated by mainstream media during the AIDS Crisis. During the 1990s, Cobbett's photography focused significantly on glamorous fantasy moments[8], high-glitz homoeroticism, and dense color-saturation, which became hallmarks of the queer visual canon[9]. During this period, Cobbett also worked with Patricia Field, crafting gowns for photoshoots which he later repurposed in his textile works. He shot over 150 covers for HX Magazine, in direct contrast to previous visual representation of gay erotica like Tom of Finland. His photos have also appeared in Next Magazine[10], Interview, Vogue and The New York Times[11], and his work is in the personal collection of Sir Elton John.
Film
In addition to photography, Cobbett has worked in film, notably directing and designing the music video "Cha Cha Bitch" which became a viral hit in 2016. Cobbett's video inspired a mini-challenge on RuPaul's Drag Race (season 8), and was recreated by RuPaul for a re-release of the song. Drag Race did not credit Cobbett, despite using his costumes for the video.
Textile Work
Since 2015, most of Cobbett's work has focused on textiles, specifically quilts. During a residency at Instinct Berlin in 2021, he created memory quilts with the local gay male community, and during his Open AIR Residency, he gave a talk at the Missoula Public Library on the use of textile as a way to join craft and memory[12]. He refers to textiles as "spirit objects"[12] and often uses recycled materials from past photography projects as a method of honoring the physical legacy of a lost underground queer culture.
References
- ↑ "Aaron Cobbett: Obsession". Open AIR. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ "Aaron Cobbett". CLAMP. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 FORUM, THE ARTISTS (2022-06-01). "THE ARTISTS FORUM's June 2022 #AOTM: Artist Aaron Cobbett". THE ARTISTS FORUM. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ FORUM, THE ARTISTS (2022-11-02). "#theartistsforumfilmfest begins October 29th - December 12th!". THE ARTISTS FORUM. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ "Martha Schwendener on Aaron Cobbett". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ Voice, Village (2010-05-10). "L.A. Artist Pulls out of "Too Gay" Photo Show?". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ "Aaron Cobbett, le photographe qui raconte New York et sa vie gay". 🌈Jock.life (in français). 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ Rosen, Miss (2022-10-24). "How James Bidgood Inspired a Generation of LGBTQ Artists". Blind Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ "Visual AIDS | Aaron Cobbett". Visual AIDS. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ "nextmagazine.com Publisher Publications - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ "Fashion & Style - Image - NYTimes.com". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Aaron Cobbett - Artist Talk at the Missoula Public Library, retrieved 2022-11-17
This article "Aaron Cobbett" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Aaron Cobbett. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ "Patrick McMullan". www.patrickmcmullan.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
