Vince Aletti (born 1945) is a curator, writer, and photography critic.

Career

Music industry

Aletti was a contributing writer for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' from 1970 to 1989. He was the first person to write about

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

, on 13 September 1973, in ''Discotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty!'' an article published by the magazine. He gave a negative review to

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

's ''

Maggot Brain ''Maggot Brain'' is the third studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records in July 1971. It was produced by bandleader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 1970 an ...

'' in 1971, describing it as "a shattered, desolate landscape with few pleasures," competently performed but "limited." He was particularly critical of the record's second side, panning it as "dead-end stuff," and asked "who needs this shit?" He also wrote a weekly column about disco for the music trade magazine ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' (1974–1979), and reported about early clubs like

David Mancuso David Paul Mancuso (October 20, 1944 – November 14, 2016) was an American disc jockey who created the popular "by invitation only" parties in New York City, which later became known as " The Loft". The first party, called "Love Saves The Day", w ...

's The Loft for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' in the late 1970s and 1980s. Aletti was a senior editor at ''The Village Voice'' for nearly 20 years until leaving in early 2005. Aletti worked with New York deejay Ritchie Rivera to curate a double-album

compilation for

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

, which released it in 1978 as ''Steppin' Out: Disco's Greatest Hits''. Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

found it superior to

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

' ''Get Down and Boogie'' and

Marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...

's ''Disco Party'', writing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981): "Although local talent (

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

the Fatback Band The Fatback Band (later, simply Fatback) is an American funk and disco band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The Fatback Band is most known for their R&B hits: "(Do the) Spanish Hustle", "I Like Girls", "Gotta Get My Hands on Some (Mone ...

) is represented, I find the spacey, lush-but-cool Euro-disco that predominates even more enticing, no doubt because the filler in which such music is usually swamped has been eliminated. New discoveries include the Chakachas' legendary 'Jungle Fever' and 'Running Away' by

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

, ordinarily the emptiest of 'jazz' pianists. This is disco the way it should be heard—as pure dance music, complete with risky changes." In 1979 and 1980, Aletti also worked as the A&R Rep for Ray Caviano’s RFC Records.

Photography

Aletti is best known for his contributions to fine art photography. He reviewed photography exhibitions for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

until 2016. Aletti has also curated numerous photography exhibitions, and has contributed writing for dozens of photography books. In 1998, Aletti was the curator of a highly praised exhibition of art and photography called Male, which was followed up in 1999 by Female, both at Wessel + O'Connor Gallery in New York. In conjunction with those shows, he was the co-editor the book "Male/Female: 105 photographs" published by Aperture in 1999, featuring his interview with

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, which was later anthologized in ''Da Capo's Best Music Writing'' (2000). In 2000, he was the co-curator of an exhibition called Settings & Players: Theatrical Ambiguity in American Photography at London's

White Cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

. The following year Aletti organized ''Steven Klein American Beauty'' a retrospective exhibition of Steven Klein's fashion work for the Musée de l'Élysée in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland. Aletti was one of the two featured writers of ''The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century'' (2001). In 2005, Aletti was the recipient of the Infinity Award for writing by The International Center for Photography.

Exhibitions curated by Aletti

*1998: ''Male''. Wessel + O'Connor Gallery, New York. *1999: ''Male/Female''. Wessel + O'Connor Gallery, New York. *2000: ''Settings & Players: Theatrical Ambiguity in American Photography''. White Cube, London. *2001: ''Steven Klein American Beauty''. Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland. *2008: ''Male: work from the collection of Vince Aletti''. White Columns, New York. *2010: ''Dress Codes The Third ICP Triennial of Photography and Video''. International Centre of Photography, New York. Curated with Kristen Lubben, Christopher Phillips, and Carol Squiers.

Bibliography

;1990–1999 * Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Grey Art Gallery & Study Center, New York University, Jan. 17-Feb. 24, 1990, and the Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Aug. 1-Sept. 15, 1990. * ;2000–2009 * ''Settings and Players: Theatrical Ambiguity in American Photography''. London: White Cube, 2001. * ''Four Days in LA: The Versace Collection''. London: White Cube, 2001. * ''The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century''. New York: PPP Editions, 2001. * ''Snapshots: The Eye Of the Century''. Berlin: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2004. * ''David Hilliard''. New York: Aperture, 2005. * ''Ingar Krauss: Portraits''. Berlin: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2006. * ''Mark Cohen:True Color''. New York: powerHouse Books, 2007. * ''Face of Fashion''. New York: Aperture, 2007. * ''Hedi Slimane: Rock Diary''. Zurich: JRP, Ringier, 2008. * ''Bruce of Los Angeles: Inside/Outside''. New York: Antinous Press, 2008. * ''Look at me: Photographs from Mexico City by Jed Fielding''. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2009. * ''Avedon Fashion 1944-2000''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2009. * ''The Disco Files 1973-78: New York's Underground Week by Week''. New York: DJhistory.com, 2009. ;2010–2019 * ''Male: From the Collection of Vince Aletti''. New York: PPP Editions, 2010. * Reviews the 'Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography' exhibition at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

(MoMA). * ''Michael Thompson: Portraits''. Bologna: Damiani, 2011. * Discusses

Mark Morrisroe Mark Morrisroe (January 10, 1959 – July 24, 1989) was an American performance artist and photographer. He is known for his performances and photographs, which were germane in the development of the punk scene in Boston in the 1970s and the art ...

. * Reviews the 'Radical Camera' exhibition at the Jewish Museum. * ''Saul Leiter''. Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag, 2012. * ''New York at Night: Photography After Dark''. New York: powerHouse Books, 2012. *

Vivian Maier Vivian Dorothy Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was an American Street photography, street photographer whose work was discovered and recognized after her death. She took more than 150,000 photographs during her lifetime, primarily of ...

. * Reviews 'Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop' at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. * Retrospectives of

Roman Vishniac Roman Vishniac (; ; August 19, 1897 – January 22, 1990) was a Russian-American photographer, best known for capturing on film the culture of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. A major archive of his work was housed at t ...

and

David Seymour David Breen Seymour (born 24 June 1983) is a New Zealand politician who has served as the 21st deputy prime minister of New Zealand since 2025 and as the 1st minister for regulation since 2023. A member of the ACT Party, he has served as its ...

at the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

. * Retrospective of

Bill Brandt Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt ; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalism, photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his ...

at the

(MoMA). * ''Photography and the American Civil War'' at the Met. * ''A Different Kind of Order'' at the

. * ''War/Photography : Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath''. * ''A Respect for Light: The Latin American Photographs: 1974-2008''. New York: Glitterati, 2014. * ''Peter Hujar: Love & Lust''. San Francisco: Fraenkel Gallery, 2014. * ''Mark Cohen: Dark Knees''. Paris: Lebal, 2014. * ''Stephen Irwin''. Berlin: r/e projects, 2015. * ''David Wojnarowicz: Brush Fires in the Social Landscape: Twentieth Anniversary Edition''. New York: Aperture, 2015. * Online version is titled "'Sarah Charlesworth: Double World ic". Reviews the 'Sarah Charlesworth: Doubleworld' exhibition at the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...

. * ''Peter Hujar: Lost Downtown''. New York: Pace MacGill Gallery, 2016. * ''Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines''. London/New York: Phaidon Press, 2019. ;2020– * Reviews the "William Klein: YES" retrospective at the

Notes

References

External links

Video: An Evening with Nan Goldin and Vince Aletti: Remembering Peter HujarVideo: Vince Aletti: Face of Fashion: Fashion Photography, Art Direction, and Magazine Design Video: Saul Leiter in Conversation with Vince Aletti Video: Vince Aletti on Peter Hujar’s Love & Lust Video: Talk with Mark Cohen and Vince Aletti at LE BAL, Paris Video: Joe Szabo & Vince Aletti , Rolling Stones Fans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aletti, Vince 1945 births Living people American music journalists American people of Italian descent The New Yorker critics Photography critics Writers from New York (state) The Village Voice people