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Lot Essay
After serving in the Vietnam War, Larry Clark returned to his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1971, with the intention of making a film. He quickly realized the impossibility of achieving a high quality product without the assistance of a crew. As a result, Clark turned his efforts into a photographic endeavor, and while the project retained a cinematic feel, it was shot with a Leica.
Tulsa, Clark's first known series of photographs, was a book published circa 1971 by his friend and peer, Ralph Gibson. The present lot is from Clark's first edition of the portfolio, a grouping of 10 highly coherent images. When making these pictures, it was not Clark's intent to shock, but rather to present his world. In interviews, Clark maintains that he hopes his work sparks dialogue about important social issues facing the youth - dysfunctional family relationships, violence, masculinity, teen violence, pornography, censorship, and the influence of the media.
Tulsa is considered to be the foundation for all of Clark's subsequent work - notably his famed portfolio Teenage Lust. Shot with a 35mm camera in natural lighting in a subjective documentary style, the product is consistently raw and resonates with a theme of "innocence lost." Beginning with the widespread recognition and influence of Tulsa, and followed up with Teenage Lust, Larry Clark has come to be recognized as one of the highly influential artists of the 20th century.
A survey of institutional holdings of Clark's work has located examples in the following collections: The
Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Tulsa, Clark's first known series of photographs, was a book published circa 1971 by his friend and peer, Ralph Gibson. The present lot is from Clark's first edition of the portfolio, a grouping of 10 highly coherent images. When making these pictures, it was not Clark's intent to shock, but rather to present his world. In interviews, Clark maintains that he hopes his work sparks dialogue about important social issues facing the youth - dysfunctional family relationships, violence, masculinity, teen violence, pornography, censorship, and the influence of the media.
Tulsa is considered to be the foundation for all of Clark's subsequent work - notably his famed portfolio Teenage Lust. Shot with a 35mm camera in natural lighting in a subjective documentary style, the product is consistently raw and resonates with a theme of "innocence lost." Beginning with the widespread recognition and influence of Tulsa, and followed up with Teenage Lust, Larry Clark has come to be recognized as one of the highly influential artists of the 20th century.
A survey of institutional holdings of Clark's work has located examples in the following collections: The
Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.