About the Book:
For two decades, Ricky Powell has prowled the streets of his native New York, toured the world with hip hop’s biggest acts, and full-on crashed celebrity-studded parties on both coasts. Equipped with only his wits and an Instamatic camera, Powell elbowed his way into the center of the scene with no shame. “It’s for public access,” Powell could be heard, pleading for an interview with a pizza shop owner on his cult cable TV show, “Rappin’ with the Rickster.”
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Powell knows access is everything, and he delivers. In Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985–2005, Powell presents the actors, musicians, performers, and artists that inspired him, including Run DMC, Public Enemy, Rakim, Slick Rick, Eazy E, Method Man, LL Cool J, Fab 5 Freddy, Steven Tyler, Nina Hagen, John Bloodclot, John Lee Hooker, LeRoy Neiman, Martha Graham, Elizabeth Taylor, Calvin Klein, Barbara Walters, Grace Jones, Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Cindy Crawford, Dondi, Doze Green, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol, as well as everyday people Powell spotted on the street.
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Also presented in Public Access are Powell’s never-before-published collaborations with top artists, graffiti writers, and photographers including Ron Galella, Ron English, Phil Frost, Lee Quinones, Sam Flores, David Choe, Dalek, DR.REVOLT, ZEPHYR, QUIK, TEAM, DAZE, SEEN, KAWS, JEST, BIGFOOT, SSUR, and HAZE, among others. The book also includes text by Ricky Powell, Charlie Ahearn, Glenn O’Brien, Zoe Cassavetes, ZEPHYR, QUIK, DR.REVOLT, and TEAM
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About the Author:
Ricky Powell, a native New Yorker, graduated from Hunter College with a B.S. in physical education. His work has been published in The New York Times, the New York Post, the Daily News, The Village Voice, Time, Newsweek, VIBE, The Source, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Details, Paper, Mass Appeal, Word Up!, Ego Trip, and Grand Royal, to name a few. Powell’s clients have included Cannon, MTV, NBC, the Apollo Theater, Capitol Records, and Weiden + Kennedy, among others. His work has been exhibited at the Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery, New York and Upper Playground, San Francisco and was featured in “500 of the Greatest Rock and Roll Photos,” presented by Kodak. Powell is the author of Frozade Moments (Eyejammie.com, 2005), Oh Snap!: The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell (St. Martin’s, 1998) and The Rickford Files: Classic New York Photographs (St. Martin’s, 1999). He lives and works in New York.
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Miss Rosen’s Contribution:
Art Direction, Photo Editing & Sequencing, Text Editing, Production Management, Publicity, Advertising, and Event Planning.
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Curated and Coordinated Seven-City Exhibition Tour:
colette, Paris, August 29–October 1, 2005
powerHouse Gallery, New York – Oct 14–Nov 11, 2005
Milk Bar, San Francisco, December 9 – 25, 2005
Goods, Seattle – December 11, 2005
Lab 101 Gallery, LA – Jan 14 – Feb 13, 2006
CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto: Ingram Gallery/Uncle Otis, May 11 – 25, 2006
Brave Art, Whistler, B.C. – April 14 – 23, 2006
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Coordinated international publicity campaign including coverage in
All Hip Hop, Arena, Backspin, Complex, The Shoes/ESPN 2, French Photo, French Vogue, High Times,
i-D, L’Officiel, L’Officiel Hommes, L’Uomo Vogue, lodown, MTV Essential, Mass Appeal, New York Magazine, Numero,
Nylon, Page Six, Paper, Penthouse, Publishers Weekly, Rolling Stone Italia, Time Out New York, Tools of War,
Trace, Vice, WAD, Wax Poetics, and Yes Yes Y’all With Charlie Ahearn/PS1 Radio, and Zoo, among others.
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PHOTOGRAPHY | ART | CELEBRITIES
HC, 7.25 x 10.75 inches, 128 pages, 32 b/w and 33 four-color photos, 29 four-color artworks
ISBN: 1-57687-261-0, $35.00
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LIMITED EDITION WITH DALEK
Edition of 85. Includes a copy of the book in a clothbound foil-stamped slipcase,
a digital c-print of the Dalek collaboration signed and numbered by the artists, $150.
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Artwork ©Ricky Powell
Cover courtesy of powerHouse Books