From Muse To MAGIC: Julia Fox's Solo Show In Chinatown

From Muse To MAGIC: Julia Fox's Solo Show In Chinatown
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It Girl, muse, and photographer and Franziska Fox designer Julia Fox made her debut multi-media solo show in Chinatown's MAGIC Gallery last week. Tonight marks the closing of PTSD, at Gogy Esparza's multipurpose project space, that's shown artists like Peter Sutherland, Maggie Lee, Nick Sethi, Shawn Powers, Weirdo Dave, Jen Shear, Luke Barber-Smith, Matias Arganaraz, Clement Pascal, Edouard Nardon, Rose Salane, Dylan Kraus, Eric Elms, Tyler Healy, Othelo Gervacio and Esparza himself. For PTSD, which i-D called an apt rendering of the "hedonism and heartache of the deep South", Fox explored the post-Katrina landscape, capturing the ritualistic culture of the Bayou. She calls her subjects "collaborators," and from each image, the viewer can feel Fox's connection to the people she shoots.

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Of PTSD, curator and It Boy, Richie Shazam Khan writes:

Her photography investigates the relationship between private and public; further examining the wretched domestic ruin left behind after a major catastrophic event. What is left from this disaster are Fox's diabolical relationships and haunting materials that aggressively plague the confines of her own psyche. The unrelenting documenting of these experiences portray her emotional obsession to unearth a secluded abyss where her personal demons are omnipresent.

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Shazam calls Fox's work "furiously trapping. Fox's internal exploration of intimacy further elucidates the trials and tribulations of the varied experiences of the people, settings and objects splattered across the walls. She redefines and upends the idea of shooting from the hip."

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Accompanying the show is an art book, Fox's second book to date. Her first, Symptomatic of a Relationship Gone Sour: Heartburn/Nausea, which details three of her particularly abusive and manipulative romantic relationships, was featured at MoMA PS1 Book Fair, this September.

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Fox tells me, "If I'm not able to share my experiences with everyone or else, they mean nothing at all." I ask her if the up-close and unflinching self-portraits make her feel exposed, vulnerable. "There are times when I feel I've exposed too much but I also know what I do has touched people and I get so many young girls that tell me how it has helped them navigate through their own personal struggle and that makes it all worth it. I think a lot of what I do is for my own personal healing."

As for what's next for Fox, she wants to continue an investigation of American subcultures, and is "fascinated by a community of people who live in camp sites in the desert. I'm thinking of going out there for a few weeks. Who knows, it could turn into a few months."

The last time I interviewed her, about a year ago, Fox told me that she was working on a solo photography show that was going to show people another layer of her. And it so seemed, she delivered.

For more information, contact MAGIC Gallery, 175 Canal Street

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