Wellfleet Public Library

Artists in Residence: Downtown New York in the 1970s

In Artists in Residence: Downtown New York in the 1970s, photographer Stephen Aiken does more than simply add color to the established record of New York City in the 1970s. His photos also hugely enrich the history of Lower Manhattan's cultural explosion during this time. Aiken's previously unpublished photos of the downtown scene include intimate portraits of writers Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and John Giorno; the artists Joseph Buys and Hannah Wilke; and the musicians Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and John Cale. The book, which also includes Aiken's street photography, includes a beautifully written foreword by the artist and critic Walter Robinson (cofounder of the seminal '70s art journal Art- Rite and an introduction by New York Times contributing arts writer Brett Sokol.

Stephen Aiken is a painter and photographer based in Wellfleet. He began his career in a downtown New York City loft over forty years ago. Artists in Residence: Downtown New York in the 1970s is his first published book of photography.

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