Arthur Tress is an American Artist
Episode 504: Arthur Tress is an American photography icon. He was one of the first people whose work I gravitated toward, along with Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Nan Goldin, Duane Michaels, Ralph Gibson, Larry Clary, and others.
His work, like that of artists Clarence John Laughlin or Frederick Sommer, presents an uncanny look at the American 20th Century in which tableau, dreamstates, and ruin all coalesce to discuss psychoanalytical topics, from sexual identity, to gender, to the implausibility of the American dream, collude to produce works that are somber, uncomfortable, and at times haunted.
We got a chance to speak about these matters, as well as The Ramble, his fabulous new book, published by Stanley/Barker. The Ramble, tangentially, is an archive project about queer cruising spaces in 1960s Central Park, New York. Though we might view the work as historical in 2026, it also presents as a mythological space, where encounters in the shadows are more like tales than documents. In this, the book is flexible, and though it is a vital part of NYC and Queer cruising history, I believe it transcends, as does much of Arthur’s work, what we observe on its surface. Please tune in!
