SCENE + HEARD: Kenny Kenny Plays Muse To Kelly Cutrone At His Whimsical Gallery Opening

(Joey Arias & Kenny Kenny @ Collective Gallery)
 
The cream of the nightlife crop turned out Saturday evening—not for the opening of a new venue but for the commencement of Kenny Kenny’s photo exhibit, "Bon Vivant in New York" at the Collective Gallery (173-171 Canal St between Mott and Elizabeth Sts). The glam mixed with the seedy as folks like Pat Fields, Amanda Lepore, Joey Arias, Malik So Chic, Cameron Nico, Ladyfag and Gazelle Paulo hiked up the stairs  to get to the whitewashed gallery.
 
Kenny's photos were split into two series embodying drastically different aesthetics. The first was a group dimly lit photos of Jun Nakayama, Sultana, Lavinia Co-op and Arias, among others, in vintage black lingerie laying in an around a sheer canopy bed. As Kenny told us he was hoping to evoke “a hymn to subversion to normalcy” with the German Expressionist-style images, the anything-but-normal PR goddess Kelly Cutrone snapped photos of him on her Blackberry. In the second space, black-and-white images highlighted the creatures of the night K-squared encounters on a regular basis. Running until June 15, "Bon Vivant" is a must for those who  appreciate fantastic photography as well as the art of New York nightlife. –Christopher Dilley
 
additional photos c/o Collective Gallery