Richard ‘Dickie’ Landry | New York: 1969 - 1979

The avant-garde art scene in New York City was about to explode after a period of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. Landry soon fell in with a crowd of artists, musicians, dancers and theater people that included Keith Sonnier, Robert Rauschenberg, Gordon Matta-Clark, Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, Walter de Maria, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Susan Rothenberg, Nancy Graves, Spalding Grey, Joan Jonas, Richard Serra, Mabou Mines, Chuck Close, Robert Wilson, Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth, Bruce Nauman, Trisha Brown, Deborah Hay, Mary Heilman and others who are now considered visionaries in their respective fields. It was at this time that Landry took up photography, not as an art form but simply to supplement his income. When not playing music, he would be hired by his newfound artist friends to help with their performances, installations and exhibits. He would ask if he could take pictures, not thinking of documenting anything – it was just a way to make extra money. He took his camera everywhere and became quite proficient at printing, using the same intense focus he would also apply to his music. Little did he know all these years later that he would amass a singular collection of photographs that would document the New York art scene of the 1970’s from a unique insider’s perspective.