ART & DESIGN

Scene: ’80s Art-world

Jeannette Montgomery Barron celebrated the publication of Scene, a book of photographs that captures her old friends during a luminous era that has yet to fade.


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Like many who flew toward the neon promise and wide shoulders of the downtown New York scene in the ’80s, Jeannette Montgomery Barron found her flock. Starting with Francesco Clemente, the photographer began taking pictures of her newfound art-world crowd, some already famous and others well on their way. Tuesday night, Barron celebrated the publication of Scene, a book of photographs from Powerhouse that captures her old friends during a luminous era that has yet to fade. Here, a few names you will recognize-but whose pre-fame appearance you might not.

George Condo [right]. “I wanted to take a simple portrait of Cindy. Just outside the frame lay all of the pig noses and assorted props we have seen in her photographs.”*

All photos: Jeannette Montgomery Barron from Scene.