Bruce LaBruce
The second instalment of The Death Book is dedicated to Bruce LaBruce’s archive of rarely published or previously unpublished work characterized by morbid fascinations that challenge the viewer to explore what lies beneath the veneer of Western society. The book brings this body of work together for the first time, combining LaBruce’s performances, actions, film production stills and photography that explicitly outline his obsessions, with never-before exhibited archival works from projects including Hustler White, Otto; or Up with Dead People, and L.A. Zombie. The book is edited as loosely connected vignettes, characterised by horror, death, gore, and splatter, the carnage accelerated rather than overcome, questioning existing values, hierarchies, and perceptions of good and evil. A variety of faces and body parts appear, including those of porn actors Francois Sagat and Tiger Tyson, model/actor Tony Ward, artists Kembra Pfahler and Slava Mogutin, and cameos by legendary figures such as performance artist Ron Athey, musician/ artists Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye, artist Dash Snow, actor Brad Renfro, and Bruce LaBruce himself. The Death Book also introduces the art director Max Siedentopf, who has designed the book as a paraphrase of the Bible, punctured with three bullet holes, piercing the book from front to back. The book contains an introduction by artist, photographer and writer Slava Mogutin. Available this Halloween and All Souls day at all good bookstores, museums, concept stores, and at our online store.
Bruce LaBruce is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, photographer, writer, and artist based in Toronto. He has written and directed thirteen feature films, including, Gerontophilia, which won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in 2013, and Pierrot Lunaire, which won the Teddy Award Special Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2014. As a visual artist he is represented by Peres Projects in Berlin, and has had numerous solo gallery shows around the world. His controversial photo exhibit Obscenity at La Fresh Gallery in Madrid caused a national ruckus in 2012. His movie L.A. Zombie was notably banned in Australia in 2010. LaBruce has written and directed three theatrical works at the Hau Theater in Berlin, including a production of Arnold Schoenberg’s avant-garde piece Pierrot Lunaire at the legendary Hebbel am Ufer Theater, which he later adapted into an experimental film. He has also directed theatrical works at the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich, Switzerland, and he participated as a director in the Hau Theater’s ambitious XHomes project in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010.
