Tomorrow's Man, Lynn Valley 9
The opening statement of Jack Pierson's (b. 1960) celebrated Tomorrow's Man artist-book series, which lifts its title from an infamous 1950s-60s bodybuilding magazine and repurposes the retro homoerotics of physique culture into a freewheeling visual anthology.
Co-published in 2014 by Bywater Bros. Editions and Presentation House Gallery as the ninth volume of the gallery's Lynn Valley artist-book series, the 84-page softcover sets Pierson's portraits against vintage physique publications, celebrity photographs and oddball printed matter, dropped into an unconventional layout that runs imagery across page breaks and centerfolds with cheerful disregard. Contributions by David Carrino, Florence Derive, Alex Jovanovich, Dan McCarthy, Ryan Sullivan and Evan Whale thread through the sequence, capped by Veralyn Behenna's short story "The Lobster."
Pierson emerged from Boston's storied circle of photographers alongside Nan Goldin, David Armstrong and Mark Morrisroe, and works across photography, collage and his signature found-letter word sculptures his work is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney and the Guggenheim. Tomorrow's Man would grow into a six-volume series, all held in this collection alongside his monographs The Hungry Years and Jack Pierson (Photology).
