PHOTOS: Alvin Baltrop’s 70s Gay Scene NSFW – Liverpool Exhibition

Those of you who like a vintage photo will love the exhibition of Alvin Baltrop's work at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool.

by Newsdesk | 3rd January 2014

Alvin Baltrop's work has never shown during his lifetime, but since his death in 2004 it has now been recognised by the US art world. An exhibition of his work will be shown for the first time in the UK at Open Eye Gallery (www.openeyegallery.org.uk), Liverpool until 9 February, 2014.

After leaving the US Navy, Baltrop, a self-taught photographer, took on various dead-end jobs before becoming a removals man. This job enabled him to camp out in his van for days on end around Manhattan's abandoned shipping piers, where he photographed the pre-AIDS gay-cruising culture that had centred on Pier 52 during the mid-70s and 80s. Gordon Matta-Clark was also a regular at Pier 52, pursuing the idea that art could act as a catalyst for urban regeneration. Matta-Clark's work will be shown alongside Baltrop's at Open Eye.