NYC Go-Go by Slava Mogutin (Photographer), Bruce Benderson

Synopsis

Slava Mogutin, the notorious Russian dissident-turned-art-star and creator of the critically acclaimed Lost Boys (powerHouse Books, 2006), returns with his second monograph, NYC Go-Go, a tribute to the golden age of New York City nightlife. The once-glittering club world had all but disappeared by the time Mogutin arrived in America in the mid-1990s. Under Mayor Rudy Giuliani's controversial "Quality of Life" campaign, downtown clubs paid the ultimate price: owners were branded community pariahs and paid crippling fines for alleged disruptiveness, while others were prosecuted for criminal acts; many legendary night spots were wiped off the map altogether. In his new book, Mogutin documents the ever-shrinking downtown gay scene, taking us inside remaining joints like the Cock, Boysroom, and Mr. Black. NYC Go-Go is a wild and raunchy journey into the decaying but utterly decadent underworld of hustlers and go-go boys. Some of them are "rough trade"-thugs with criminal pasts, busted for prostitution, drugs, or armed assault-while others are "gay for pay," married with kids and hustling for their families; most are Mogutin's friends. NYC Go-Go captures the spirit of a scene under fire with Mogutin's trademark raw, in-your-face style.

Biography

Siberian-born artist and writer Slava Mogutin was exiled from Russia for his queer writings and activism at the age of 21. He was granted political asylum in the US with the support of Amnesty International and PEN American Center. He is the author of seven books in Russian and the winner of the prestigious Andrei Bely Prize for Poetry (2000). His writings have been published in six languages. Mogutin's photography has been exhibited internationally and featured in a wide array of publications including The New York Times, The Village Voice, ArtUS, i-D, Visionaire, L'Uomo Vogue, and Stern. His first monograph, Lost Boys (powerHouse Books, 2006), became an instant best seller.

Bruce Benderson's seventh book, The Romanian: Story of an Obsession (Tarcher/Penguin, 2006), received rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, the London Times, The Village Voice, Publishers Weekly, and many others. His other books include Bidgood (Taschen, 1999) a coffee-table-sized monograph on the filmmaker James Bidgood, and Toward the New Degeneracy (Edgewise, 1997), chosen by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 remarkable creative works of that year. He has written for publications including The New York Times Magazine and Paris Vogue, and is the recipient of France's prestigious Prix de Flore award for literature.