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Before she rose to prominence as "punk rock's poet laureate", Patti Smith spent the early 1970s in New York painting, writing, and performing spoken-word poetry. By 1975, the Patti Smith Group recorded the highly regarded debut album, Horses. It was during this time that Frank Stefanko, a college friend and fellow native of South Jersey, began photographing the young woman who would become, according to Rolling Stone, one of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
Patti Smith: American Artist features approximately thirty stunning and intimate black and white portraits of a cultural icon. Each image demonstrates Stefanko's ability to capture the inner spirit of an emerging artistic legend. This exhibition also celebrates the publication of Patti Smith: American Artist (Insight Editions), with photographs and text by Frank Stefanko and edited by Chris Murray, owner and director of Govinda Gallery. Many previously unpublished photographs, along with the author's personal recollections, document a significan figure at a time when new genre of music and art was being born.
This is Stefanko's solo exhibition at Govinda Gallery. Previously shown work included his images of Bruce Springsteen, the subject of Stefanko's first publication, Days of Hope and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen published by Billboard Books/Insight Editions (2003). Stefanko's photographs have been used as the covers of Springsteen's albums, Darkness of the Edge of Town and The River, as well as Southside Johnny's Heart of Stone. His work also appears in Patti Smith's book Complete, Springsteen's book Songs, and Dave Marsh's book Born to Run. Stefanko's photographs have been exhibited at teh Frederick Weisman Museum in Minneapolis, the Cranbrook Museum in Birmingham, Michigan, the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and the Neward Museum in Newark, New Jersey.
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Streetwise, New York City, 1974
Photo Copyright Frank Stefanko/
Courtesy Govinda Gallery
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Radio Days, New York City, 1976
Photo Copyright Frank Stefanko/
Courtesy Govinda Gallery
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Daydream, New York City, 1973
Photo Copyright Frank Stefanko/
Courtesy Govinda Gallery
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Avenging Angel, New York City, 1976
Photo Copyright Frank Stefanko/
Courtesy Govinda Gallery
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