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AMOS BADERTSCHER
(1936-
"BALTIMORE PORTRAITS"
(1970’s – 1990’s)
(c. 1975 "Todd", Cover Image "Baltimore Portraits")
These portraits – many of which are accompanied by hand written narrative – represent a sector of Baltimore, Maryland that has largely gone unnoticed and rarely documented.
Badertscher’s arresting and melancholy photographs document a culture that has virtually disappeared due to substance abuse, AIDS and often societal & familial neglect.
First exhibited by Duke University in 1995, and subsequently published by Duke University Press in 1999 as “Baltimore Portraits” – this assemblage of images of bar & street people, transvestites, strippers, hustlers, drug addicts, and drag queens spans a 25 year period.
Gelatin Silver Prints
Signed - Inscribed – Editioned* - Dated
Size 8” x 10”, starting from $1,000
(Select images are available as 11" x 14", starting from $1,200)
*Edition limited to 15 prints or less. Prices increase with edition number.
View Artist Bio at bottom of page
For books by Badertscher visit our new Bookstore
c. 1979 "Miss Lena"
c. 1982 "Jennings"
c. 1976 "Sandy"
c. 1993 "Miss Jamie"
c. 1994 "Miss Jennings"
c. 1976 "Alan Lozito"
c. 1976 "Ken Polistina"
c. 1993 "Mistress Q & Bebe"
c. 1979 "Miss Charisma Aviance"
c. 1993 "Two Ladies at the Hippo"
c. 1993 "Two Ladies at the Hippo II"
c. 1994 "Miss Baby Jane"
c. 1994 "Two Ladies at Rumors"
c. 1993 "Bebe"
c. 1975 "Frank Grundahl" (diptych)
c. 1996 "Mistress Q"
c. 1999 "Self Portrait with Vita Opulence"
(ps. we're pleased to report that, according to Ms. Opulence, the news of her death has been greatly exaggerated)
c. 1992 "Frankie"
c. 1997 "Sandy II"
c. 1977 "Bruce: Hard Rocker"
c. 1978 "Kris Krixer"
c. 1994 "Billie: Captain America"
c. 1989 "Guy"
c. 1991 "Eddie"
c. 1975 "Dougie"
c. 1994 "Mistress Q II"
c. 1995 "Big Daddy"
c. 1993 "Club DJ"
c. 1995 "Sonny with Mirrors"
c. 1976 "Bonnie"
c. 1993 "Song of My Soul"
c. 1975 "Longings by C. P. Cavaly"
Additional Images from "Baltimore Portraits" are available for viewing, please inquire.
Amos Badertscher - Bio
Amos Badertscher is a self-taught photographer whose subjects range from delicate landscapes and still lifes to raunchy drag queens and youthful hustlers living on the fringe of his native hometown, Baltimore, MD. It is the latter two subjects that have preoccupied Badertscher since the 1970’s and resulted in a body of work that confronts the viewer with a modern equivalent to the Storyville portraits of Bellocq. In 1995, Badertscher had his first solo exhibition at the Duke University Museum of Art. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including Artsites’98 sponsored by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, NY, as well as solo shows at The National Arts Club and the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation in New York City. A major monograph of his work, Baltimore Portraits, was published in 1999 by Duke University Press.
Statement
The world that Badertscher photographs is brittle; his stark images made even more so by the incisive biographical narratives of his subjects that he often pens onto the photographs themselves. In many cases, Badertscher also records his own participation in the photography sessions, resulting in images that blur the distinction not only between the photographer and the model but also of the observer and the observed.
Selected Exhibitions
The Outsider Art of Amos Badertscher, 2005. Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, New York City
Deviant Bodies, 2004. CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY. (Made possible by a generous grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation.)
The Girls of Baltimore, 2004. The National Arts Club, New York City
Artsites ‘98, 1998. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Baltimore Portraits, 1995. Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, NC
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