Polaroids

Morris, Michael. Polaroids: Photographs by Attila Richard Lukacs. Vancouver, B.C.: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010. Hardcover. 175pp. $55.00. ISBN: 978-1-55152-295-1.

A companion to the 2009 exhibition, this collection of photographs provides a perspective into the preservation and arrangement of the byproducts of the artistic process. Canadian painter Attila Lukacs spent the 1980s in West Berlin, taking Polaroids of men ― hustlers, skinheads, friends ― to incorporate into his paintings. The photos themselves were not originally intended as artistic works, although Lukacs did save them with the intention to eventually show them in public. Indeed, decades later, the Polaroids were displayed in the Art Gallery of Alberta. Lukacs’ friend, fellow Canadian and painter Michael Morris, compiled and organized the shots into tidy chronological groups. Morris’ role as curator is acknowledged throughout the book.

In addition to pages of carefully reconstructed series of images, Polaroids includes essays by Stan Persky, Michael Turner, and Scott Watson, as well as an interview with the artist by Vince Aletti. The sum is an exploration not only of Lukacs’ work, but also of Canadian painting, artistic archives, and the queer art scene of the era.

Polaroids is a must for university libraries with any interest in contemporary Canadian art. Note that it is of a rather unwieldy size: approximately 13” by 17” but only 1” thick. Most of the photographs feature nude men, and some include Nazi symbolism.

 

Reviewed by, Kelly McElroy
Out on the Shelves Library
Vancouver BC

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