PRESS THE EJECT AND GIVE ME THE FILM: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF EUGENE MERINOV 1977-1981

All Posts,event — Dan on September 18, 2007 at 1:26 pm

There are few cooler websites then those collecting awesome photos from bygone days. Philippe Carly’s New Wave Photos is a longtime favorite. I don’t think a band has ever looked as cool as Cabaret Voltaire in 1979. Maybe that Velvets shot with Lou in the sunglasses? Another great site I found while reading through Alice Bag’s amazing website is from Jenny Lens. The reason I’m posting however is to mention the work of Eugene Merinov because there’s going to be an exhibition of his work at the NYC record store Etherea (r.i.p. Adult Crash, where I first heard Slapp Happy).

Our friend Tim at Stupefaction has helped Eugene get a web presence with a MySpace page and a blog. One recently posted photo is this great shot listed as “A Band – Max’s Kansas City – 1978”.

A Band were a no wave related band that featured Wharton Tiers of the Theoretical Girls and Paul McMahon who later had a poppy solo record on Glenn Branca’s Neutral Records. It looks like Glenn up front, and that’s definitely Glenn’s guitar as can be seen in the infamous film shot at Jeffrey Lohn’s loft. I’ll ask around and see what else I can find out about this photo.

Anyway, the exhibit goes up wed and there will be an opening party, here’s the word from Tim followed by a bio from Jack Rabid.

Hello everyone,

I’m proud & privileged to invite you to the opening night reception for the photography of music photographer Eugene Merinov.

When: Sept. 19, 8:00PM-10:00PM.
Where: Etherea Records, 66 Avenue A between 4th & 5th
Streets, 212-358-1126

Please join us for the very first public viewing of many of these incredible pictures taken by Eugene here in New York at the peak of the post punk era. They are absolutely electric & just may inspire you. They’ve inspired me! 21 images will be shown including the Ramones, the Contortions, Richard Hell, Suicide, Gang of Four, Wire, Bauhaus, X, Lydia Lunch, the Only Ones, and others. For more info please read the short release below written by Jack Rabid. Also be sure to check out the attached flyer.

Feel free to email me for more information, and visit www.myspace.com/eugenemerinovphotography for a preview. And please share this with anyone whom you feel would be interested. Thank you!

Tim B, NYC

Etherea Records is proud to announce the opening of

“Press the Eject and Give Me the Film: The Photography of Eugene Merinov, 1977-1981.”

Sept 19-Dec 12, 2007

When it comes to photographs of New York’s original, hallowed punk and post-punk era, the world has justly recognized important works by Roberta Bayley, Bob
Gruen, Stephanie Chernikowski, George DuBose, Godlis, Ebet Roberts, and others. Perhaps flying just under that radar, but every bit as striking and iconic, are the images captured by Eugene Merinov. From 1977-1981 Merinov similarly and tirelessly trod the boards in front of the stages at CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, Hurrah, Trax, Danceteria, Irving Plaza, TR3, Maxwells, Ukrainian National Hall, Paradise Garage, The Palladium, and the original Peppermint Lounge — sanctified names, all, in the history of the local New York City scene. Merinov was there three nights a week or more to capture all the action.

Along the way, he became perhaps the ultimate and sharpest visual recorder of the emerging & amazing post-punk scene, with his searing shots of such greats as Bauhaus, Wire, Gang of Four, X, XTC, New Order, Monochrome Set, James Chance’s Contortions, Richard Hell’s Voidoids, Suicide, Pere Ubu, Lydia Lunch, Only Ones, Bush Tetras, and more, all caught in their primal infancy/urgency. His shots of the band synonymous with CBGB, the Ramones, in their ancestral home circa Rocket to Russia are perhaps the best of all of them.

Now, for the first time, his original works, all in the stark and arresting black & white that suited this shadowy scene best, will be featured in a gallery that suits his work the best; on the walls above the CDs and vinyl of the Etherea store in the neighborhood that spawned so much of this music, the East Village. Previously best known for the cover shot to Bauhaus’s 1982 live album for Beggar’s Banquet, Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape, more recently his work appeared on Wire’s Live at CBGB—a natural fit given Merinov’s series of photos from that pioneering band’s historic first and only visit to punk’s Mecca in 1978 (their New York debut).

Along the way, Merinov didn’t merely collect the images of groups whose stature has increased ten-fold since those intimate small-club days. Though less-remembered or seen, Merinov valuably set his lens on a plethora of fascinating regular acts also playing those clubs, valuable members of the thriving local scene. It has been 25 years, perhaps, since most of us have seen the sights of such cutting edge types as the
Erasers, Johnny Thunders-associated punks the Blessed, rockabilly rebels the Senders, Max’s weekends’ sensation Von Lmo, power-pop faves the Speedies, and
the avant-pop of Polyrock, Revelons, Student Teachers, Zantees, and Model Citizens, England’s dance minimalists Delta Five, San Francisco’s incredible new wavers the Mutants and the Offs, and tough Boston acts like La Peste and Human Sexual Response — and more.

Having not laid eyes on any of these familiar faces in 25 years, the effect is as jarring as the images that jump at you.

Merinov is no longer active in the field, but as he puts it best of the time, “I felt I was part of a new scene and didn’t want to miss out on it.” Typical is his remembrance of his favorite concerts of this period, by Wire. “Visually and musically. I came out of those shows drenched in sweat and shaking all over.” That quality always comes across in this exhibition. And, stumbling on the scene after seeing Patti Smith in 1976, Merinov saw everyone, experienced everything, and made sure it wasn’t lost for
posterity. Influenced by Egon Schiele, Ingmar Bergman, the French New Wave, Italian Futurism, Russian Constructivism, the photography of August Sander, Rodchenko, Koudelka, Peter Hujar and Anton Corbijn, the design work of Peter Saville for Factory Records, (as well as many Friday afternoons picking up new 45’s, LP’s, and issues of the NME, Sounds, and Melody Maker at Bleecker Bob’s) his keen eye and sense of darks amid the lights is beyond powerful.

From the absolute last years before MTV arrived and ruined any sense of an alive & kicking club scene as being the place to see and hear new, breaking sounds, these bands, and these photographs, feel as timeless as the uncompromising art made by so many artists depicted in them — who fought the good fight for the ultimate expression of the form over mere commerciality and video-camera ready looks. It’s the last era where the real kooks, geniuses, and wily, oddball artistes ruled the forefront of underground cool and left a legacy that will never diminish. And the Bavarian-born, Russian descended, School of Visual Arts-trained Merinov captured every last bit & dusty breath of it.

– JACK RABID, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, THE BIG TAKEOVER,
7/19/07

Etherea is located at 66 Avenue A (between 4th & 5th St) in the East Village, Manhattan.
Phone number: 212-358-1126. Open Noon to 10:00PM daily.

For any further information, press requests, etc, please contact Tim Broun at
eugenemerinovphotography@gmail.com or 917-494-7925.

www.myspace.com/eugenemerinovphotography

UPDATE 9.20.07 So I went to this opening last night and it was really cool. Met not only Eugene but Sal and Dennis from Liquid Liquid. Also found some good cheap used vinyl, so you better get down to Etherea soon.

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