It's Always Darkest Before Dawn

Description

The story of New York's wildest party spots, captured through enigmatic polaroid shots and featuring famed drag queens, go-go boys and transsexuals. Since 2002, Kost has been the sole photographer to capture the complete millenial portrait of the hottest nightlife. An exhilarating trip through the city's underground which puts the reader on the guestlist into a world of vivacious creativity, performance and costume that existed long before Lady Gaga! Captured with uncompromising immediacy, it features celebrities from Pamela Anderson to Bill Clinton.

Jeremy Kost creates art with his tried and true Polaroidcameras, flying in the face of the rising tide of digitalimage making. Kost was recently featured in the ICPTriennial. His work has been the subject of solo showsin Paris and Washington, D.C. Kost has also exhibited atthe National Arts Club in New York City. Kost lives andworks in New York City. Eric C. Shiner is the Milton Fine Curator of Art at The AndyWarhol Museum in Pittsburgh and an adjunct professor in theHistory of Art and Architecture department at the Universityof Pittsburgh. Ladyfag was born Rayne Baron in Toronto, Canada. In 2006,she relocated to New York City assuming the name Ladyfag.

"'The collages were my favorite pieces to make, with the whole idea of hiding flaws and accentuating strong points.'" Jeremy Kost, New York Times, T Style "'It's the fantasy that attracts me. My relationship to the characters and subjects is the metaphor for transformation. They're like butterflies.'" Jeremy Kost, Los Angeles Times "This first monograph from party photographer Jeremy Kost, master of the Polaroid collage captures New York's underground club scene with vibrantly skewed portraits of drag queens, go-go boys, trans divas and hard-partying personalities by cocktail-shaking spontaneity with meticulous composition, accentuating the careful performance aspect of nightlife culture." Advocate "It's fashionable to say that truly thrilling New York City nightlife died off during the Giuliani era. But It's Always Darkest Before Dawn, a collection of Polaroids shot by photographer Jeremy Kost, proves you can still find places packed to bursting with overstimulated club kids, fabulous drag queens, and debauched celebs-if you know where to look." Details "Kost's shots are unstaged, honest and show a good time!" iD Jeremy Kost has "...made a career of inviting us beyond the velvet ropes to the go-go boys, drag queens and delicious eye candy that light up the night." New York Press