ART CENTER RADIO.

Being that fame was a long time coming for the Pixies, it was even longer for their long time album photographer, Simon Larbelestier. The now iconic photographer created some of the most recognizable album art work in the past thirty years. His work is on display now at the C4 Contemporary Art Gallery on the edge of Hollywood. In this tiny room you will find six selections of Larbelestier's “Minotaur” series created for the new Pixies box set of the same name.

In the gallery the photos are shown free from the Pixies name and music that they are so often associated with. The photos stand alone with black frames on white walls. The first photo to grab my attention is the titular “Minotaur” photo, a black and white close up of a beast's eye. The fur around the eye starts white, and quickly turns to a stark black. The photo is offset by the beast's white horn shown partially in the upper left of the photograph. The emotion in the beast's one eye conveys ultimate sadness and a long viewing led me to feel that the animal was on the verge of tears. At first it was unclear what animal is actually in the photo. Instincts told me it was a buffalo due to their common placement in North America, but a quick chat with the gallery owner revealed that it was, in fact, a Water Buffalo and that all of the photos in the series were taken in Thailand.

Next to “Minotaur” are two photos titled “Confession” and “Carousel.” The former is one of the few color photos on display from the collection. The palette of dark blue, dark brown, and black convey heavy emotion relating to this Catholic Confessional. The plain wood cross against the plain wood background gives a greater sense of darkness and doom than the typical Christian theme of light. The curtain of the booth is pulled shut perhaps implying that someone is inside confessing a great and horrible sin. “Carousel” shows three barstools in black and white wrapping around a rounded bar. The bar itself is not visible, but rather implied.

Perhaps more interesting than both “Confession” and “Carousel” put together is “Cuban” which resides directly to the right of the previous two images. The black and white photo illustrates the form of an unidentifiable part of the human body wrapped in some sort of black fishnetting. This piece drew me in and wouldn't let me go for the longest time. The form is so familiar, but something about it seemed off. The seam on the netting led me to believe that I was looking at the rear end of a female, and her butt was bulging out while her legs were oddly bent. But there was one part of the figure about halfway up on the left that was sticking out in a very bony way. After a long time in front of the photo, the owner pointed out that the photo was actually a heel and not a torso. According to him, the perspective has fooled many viewers including himself.

At the very front of the gallery were two more photos in the series titled “Glove” and “Rip.” These photos were odd choices for the first two the viewer sees, as they are not near as visually intriguing as the rest of the photos. Perhaps more interesting than this was that on the wall opposite the “Minotaur” series were two ultra large prints of the photos from the first two Pixies record covers. “Surfer Rosa 1” and “Nimrod Son” covered the wall almost top to bottom. Acting as a calling card for indie kids and hipsters everywhere. The sheer size of these photos compared to the relatively normal size of the other photos drastically changed the feel of the show. No longer were the “Minotaur” photos these silent images separate from songs like “Debaser” and “Where Is My Mind?”, but instead they were all filled with Black Francis' wailing voice along with Kim Deal's rock hard bass lines and sweet backing vocals. The presence of these iconic images filled a silent room with music, and as a long time Pixies fan I could suddenly relate on another level to every photo in the show.

Larbelestier has spent most of his professional career being known as the guy who made album covers for one of the most important bands of all time, and it shows in his newest collection. Now that there are no new lyrics to grab onto and create photos of he has been forced to create new images for the same music. Larbelestier seems to have a greater understanding of the music made by the band he has spent so long working for. He is interpreting the music not only on a literal lyrical level, but now on a melodic level to create photos with greater emotion and with simpler subjects than ever before. In a lot of ways the photographer's journey seems exactly the same as the band's. Just like the band is finally discovering why their songs are important to their own and all future generations, Larbelestier seems to be discovering that his photos have a profound effect on viewers. He has used that discovery to create a series of photos that not only work perfectly as an accompaniment to music, but can stand alone on their own on a blank wall.