Charles Atlas

For almost 50 years, New York-based artist Charles Atlas (born 1949) has been a leading figure in film and video art, creating seminal works documenting dance and performance art, involving choreographers such as Merce Cunningham and Michael Clark, as well as the fashion designer and performance artist Leigh Bowery. His network of collaborators and associates largely coincides with his circle of friends: many of his works from the 1980s and 1990s are portraits of fellow protagonists of the New York underground scene and the contemporary milieu, employing a sub- and pop-cultural idiom to scrutinize aspects of bio-power and the politics of bodies and identity. The publication features commissioned essays by art historians and curators, reflecting on Atlas' strategies and the themes that have shaped his oeuvre over the years.