Musée Magazine What is your advice for an emerging photographer starting out?
Is there an artistic field you have not tried but would like to?
Same thing Hiro once told me when I told him I hocked my camera. He said never stop shooting.
Television.
Do you get funding for your projects or do you fund them yourself. How does one go about getting funding for a project? I fund my projects. The days of getting grants or fellowships are over. But some grants they give to you by applying. Others like the McArthur Award, they just give you. Have you received any death threats since your work is so controversial? I have, for Piss Christ years ago.
A lot of your work seems dark. Can we ever expect you to photograph for example, angels? Some of my new works will be light. How closely associated is your “image” to your work? What influence does it have with the subject matter of your work? My work is me. I identify with what I photograph. Who helped you most in your career? Julie Ault and Irina Movmyga. Julie is my first wife and Irina is my current wife.
“I’m known in America as a controversial artist but in Europe I’m known simply as “‘Andres Serrano.’” —Andres Serrano
What has been your most successful show and which work do you feel closest to? I can’t answer that since I feel close to all my work. The Morgue was a favorite for some and The Klan and Immersions for others.
You say that when you do commercial work it spawns ideas for your art work, can you give an example? I don’t consider editorial work commercial work. But an editorial assignment might become a body of work. It’s not that it spawns ideas, but it can become a series. For instance, I once shot a series of “Cycads” or rare prehistoric plants for The New Times Magazine. A dealer in Italy loved them and he presented them as a series. ■
Interview by Andrea Blanch Photograph of Andres Serrano by Andrea Blanch
When will your new project be completed and available to the public? I will have some new work soon to tell you about. Does your work have more appeal in the United States or abroad? I’m known in America as a controversial artist but in Europe I’m known simply as “Andres Serrano.” How important do you think publishing books are to an artist’ s career? Not sure. They’re good when you have them but it doesn’t much matter when you don’t. What made you want to be a photographer? I never wanted to be a photographer and have never considered myself one. I attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School where I studied painting and sculpture. I’ve always thought of myself as a conceptual artist with a camera. What does art mean to you? It’s what I was put on earth for!
8 Musée Magazine No. 2
Anarchy series images are © Andres Serrano, Courtesy Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York All other photographs Courtesy of the Artist Serrano’s work is in numerous public collections, including the University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL; Institute of Contemporary Art, Amsterdam, Holland; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MDw; capc musÈe díart contemporain, Bordeaux, France; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL; Fonds Regional díArt Contemporain, Cluny, France; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid Spain; Cintas Foundation, Miami, FL; Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Allen Art Museum, Oberlin, OH; Centro Andaluz de Arte Contempor·neo, Sevilla, Spain; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia.