Richard Kern (born 1954) is an American underground filmmaker, writer and photographer. He first came to prominence as part of the cultural explosion in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s, with

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scu ...

and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

films like ''The Right Side of My Brain'' and ''Fingered'', which featured personalities of the time such as

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

, David Wojnarowicz,

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of t ...

, Kembra Pfahler,

Karen Finley Karen Finley (born 1956) is an American performance artist, musician and poet. Her performance art, recordings, and books are used as forms of activism. Her work frequently uses nudity and profanity. Finley incorporates depictions of sexuality, ...

and

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rol ...

. Like many of the musicians around him, Kern had a deep interest in the aesthetics of extreme sex, violence and perversion and was involved in the

Cinema of Transgression __notoc__ The Cinema of Transgression is a term coined by Nick Zedd in 1985 to describe a New York City-based underground film movement, consisting of a loose-knit group of artists using shock value and black humor in their films. Key players in ...

movement, a term coined by Nick Zedd.

Career

Kern's first dabbling in the arts was a series of self-produced magazines that featured art, poetry, photography and fiction by himself and several friends. These hand-stapled and photocopied

zines A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...

expressed the bleakness of New York City's East Village in the early 1980s. Kern's first zine was the bi-monthly ''The Heroin Addict'', which was later renamed ''The Valium Addict''. About 12 issues of these two zines were produced, along with the occasional special issue. This phase of Kern's career lasted from late 1979 to around 1983. In 1985, he directed a video for the

song " Death Valley '69"; this led to more music video work, including videos for King Missile ("

Detachable Penis "Detachable Penis" is a song by avant-garde band King Missile. It was the first single from the band's 1992 album'' Happy Hour,'' and became a modest hit, reaching number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart. Lyrical content In "Det ...

") and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

Lunchbox A lunch box (alt. spelling lunchbox) refers to a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying. In the United ...

").

Lung Leg Lung Leg (born Elisabeth Carr; July 8, 1963, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American pin-up girl and actress perhaps best known for appearing on the cover of the Sonic Youth album '' EVOL''. During the 1980s, she gained fame as a model and s ...

starred in several Kern films and was the cover model for Sonic Youth's ''

EVOL Evol may refer to: * ''Evol'' (Sonic Youth album), 1986 * ''Evol'' (Future album), 2016 * EvoL, South Korean girl group * "E.V.O.L.", a song by Marina and the Diamonds * ' Kamen Rider Evol', the main antagonist of a Japanese tokusatsu series, Ka ...

'' album (the sleeve design shows a still shot from the film ''Submit to Me''). Along with other Cinema of Transgression filmmakers, he was a subject of Jack Sargeant's book ''

Deathtripping First published as ''Deathtripping: The Cinema of Transgression'' by Creation Books in 1995 and subsequently republished as ''Deathtripping: The Extreme Underground'' by Soft Skull Press, ''Deathtripping'' is a book by Jack Sargeant which examines ...

''. Kern, whose father was a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

newspaper photographer and editor, turned in the 1990s almost exclusively to still photography. Although mainly known in recent years for his photographs of naked women, he frequently shoots celebrity portraits for international publications. His book ''Action'', edited by

Dian Hanson Dian Hanson (born November 2, 1951) is an American magazine and book editor. Career Hanson began her publishing career as an American pornographic magazine editor, historian, and occasional model, helping found the 1970s hardcore journal ''Purita ...

, was released in 2007 by

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Taschen Comics, ...

, featuring more than 200 full-color photographs of young nude women. Accompanying the volume was ''Extra Action'', Kern's DVD of models featured in the book. Since February 2007, Kern has directed ''Shot By Kern'' on

VBS.tv VBS.tv was an online television network owned by ''Vice Media'', and later absorbed into VICE.com. The network produced original, short-form, documentary-style video content under the auspice of VICE Films. Subject matter included humanitarian i ...

, stills of which are published monthly in ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

''. He was interviewed in 2011, as part of the documentary ''

The Advocate for Fagdom ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' by

Angélique Bosio Angelique or Angélique may refer to: * Angélique (given name), a French feminine name Arts and entertainment Music * Angélique (instrument), a string instrument of the lute family * ''Angélique'', a 1927 opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert * ...

about queercore filmmaker Bruce La Bruce, After meeting young photographer

Petra Collins Petra Collins (born December 21, 1992) is a Canadian artist, director of photography, fashion model and actress who rose to prominence in the early 2010s. Her photography is characterized by a feminine, dreamlike feel, informed in part by a fema ...

, Kern purportedly became her mentor. Collins also serves as Kern's casting agent in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, Canada. Kern is a regular contributor to ''Vice'', ''

Purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters ...

'', '' GQ'' and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

''.

Influence

The UK band Manhattan Love Suicides took their name from one of Kern's short films.

Personal life

Kern was married to artist Martynka Wawrzyniak from 2007 to 2015.

Filmography

* ''You Killed Me First'' (1985) * ''Woman at the Wheel'' (1985) * ''Thrust in Me'' (1985) * ''Submit to Me'' (1985) * ''Stray Dogs'' (1985) * ''The Right Side of My Brain'' (1985) * ''Manhattan Love Suicides'' (1985) * ''I Hate You Now'' (1985) * " Death Valley '69" music video (1985) * ''King of Sex'' (1986) * ''Goodbye 42nd Street'' (1986) * ''Fingered'' (1986) * ''Submit to Me Now'' (1987) * ''X is Y'' (1990) * ''Pierce'' (1990) * ''Money Love'' (1990) * ''The Evil Cameraman'' (1990) * ''Tumble'' (1991) * ''Nazi'' (1991) * ''Horoscope'' (1991) * ''Sewing Circle'' (1992) * ''The Bitches'' (1992) * "

" music video (1992) * ''My Nightmare'' (1993) * "

" music video (1995) * ''Extra Action'' (2007) * ''Face to Panty Ratio'' (2011)

Books

*''Richard Kern: New York Girls'' (1995, Purr Books) *''XXGIRLS'' (1996, Fiction Inc. Books) *''New York Girls'' (1997,

) *''Richard Kern'' (1998, Charta) *''Model Release'' (2000, Taschen Books) *''XXModels'' (2001, Ficton Inc Books) *''Kern Noir'' (2002, Charta) *''Soft'' (2004, Universe Publishing) *''Digital Kern'' (2007, Charta) *''Action'' (2007,

) *''Looker'' (2008,

Abrams Books Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...

) *''10:41'' (2011, The Oversea Books) *''Contact High'' (2013, PictureBox) *''Shot By Kern'' (2013,

) *''Girlfriend Boyfriend'' (2014, The Oversea Books) *''Bed Bath and Beyond'' (2015, Innen Books) *''New York Girls'' (20th Anniversary Edition)'' (2016,

) *''Polarized'' (2017, Victoria Press) *''1980'' (2019, Off One's Rocker Publishing Ltd) *''Who's Your Death Hero?: Supervert + Richard Kern on Death'' (2020, Supervert 32C Inc.) *''Medicated'' (2020, Art Paper Editions) *''Extra High'' (2020, Innen Books) *''Cars'' (2021, Hassla Books) *''Baron'' (2022, Baron Books)

References

External links

* *
Inside ''Fingered:'' Behind the Scenes with Filmmaker Richard Kern
an interview with Kern published on Legs McNeil's site PleaseKillMe.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, Richard 1954 births Living people Writers from New York City American experimental filmmakers Punk filmmakers American music video directors