Temple of Art: Director’s Spotlight – Allan Amato

This is part of the ongoing series of articles about the Temple of Art exhibition and documentary.  Directed by photographer Allan Amato, executive produced by Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, and Jon Schnepp, Temple of Art:  The Documentary chronicles the lives of artists and asks them why they create their art.

…Temple of Art…

If you’re not familiar with the name Allan Amato, and hopefully most of you reading this are, you are very likely to recognize his photographs.  Allan is one of the premier commercial photographers and he has photographed some of the most talented actors, directors, writers, musicians, and artists that you can imagine.  He’s photographed everyone, from legendary comic book writers and artists (Stan Lee, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, and Dave McKean) to today’s biggest television and movie stars (Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Thomas Jane, Danny Trejo, Andy Dick, and Stephanie Leonidas), from rock musicians (Amanda Palmer, Al Jourgensen, and Gerard Way) to film directors (Terry Gilliam, Guillermo del Toro, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, and Jon Favreau).  That’s one heck of a resumé right there.

Chuck Palahniuk (2014). Allan’s recent portrait of the acclaimed and controversial writer Chuck Palahniuk, author of the transgressive novels “Fight Club”, “Choke”, “Damned”, and its sequel “Doomed”.

Allan has also done some deeply personal and powerful projects, of which Temple of Art is just the latest and perhaps one of his most ambitious, including Illuminate Parkinson’s, a project inspired by one of his very dear friend’s struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. The Illuminate Parkinson’s project, which like Temple of Art, was launched on Kickstarter, was a traveling gallery exhibition featuring photographic portraits of people with Parkinson’s and of various celebrities who were kind enough to allow Allan to photograph them to help raise awareness of the disease. He also has done a series of very stylish erotic photographs collectively known as Boudoir Steampunk Porn.

Being very enthusiastic about Temple of Art, I contacted Allan and asked if he would be interested in my doing a series of articles on the project and on the people involved, and fortunately, he agreed to.

Sean:
The Temple of Art documentary has had an interesting evolution, having begun in 2012 and grown gradually since.  Where did the seed of inspiration for the Temple of Art project come from and what is the history behind it?

Allan:
I photographed David Mack, the visionary writer and artist behind Kabuki, first, back in 2012, thanks to an introduction through our mutual friend, Olga Nunes.  The images that resulted were and continue to be some of my all time favorites, and we both got along incredibly well.  I felt compelled to do a little Photoshop to one of the shots, and eventually asked whether David would paint over the image itself, thereby making it one of a kind, rather than an infinitely reproducible digital file.

Sean:
How did you assemble the impressive and diverse group of artists involved?

Allan:
Shortly thereafter, David brought the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz to the studio, and what began as an attempt to enslave David for the next decade as my indentured artist and all round valet, became the germ for Temple of Art, which has at last count enslaved and/or encouraged over fifty artists to sit for a portrait with me,  then drawing, collaging, painting, etc on the final printed image.  Pillars of the comics industry like Dave McKean, David Mack, and Bill Sienkiewicz rubbing ink dusted elbows with fine art giants Kent Williams, Barron Storey, and Jason Shawn Alexander.  Then it just kept growing after that.  I added a New York-based co-producer, Marc Scheff, and ultimately traveled east to photograph twenty-one New York artists as well, so we are quite the diaspora if you include Grant Morrison, Dave McKean and Mark Buckingham in the UK.

Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman (2010). Allan’s iconic portrait of an iconic couple, Amanda Palmer, indie musician and the provocative singer of The Dresden Dolls, and Neil Gaiman, acclaimed author of “The Sandman”, “American Gods”, and “The Graveyard Book”.

Sean:
You’ve had the rare opportunity to photograph so many creative talents for this project, as well as for other projects, and you have been able to collaborate with this rather extraordinary collective of people.  I notice that you have a few recurrent collaborators, such as Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Dave McKean, Grant Morrison, etc..  How did you come together and could you briefly describe your relationship with them?

Allan:
I met everyone with the exception of Amanda, on various photoshoots.  Both Neil and Grant during shoots for Coilhouse magazine, Dave for another project called Genius.  All three contributed to the Illuminate Parkinson’s charity as well, I might add.  I’ve known Amanda for a while, through Neil and a few other mutual friends, but we’ve only just finished our first big project together:  her book cover!  She asked whether I knew of any artists who might want to come and paint on her for the book, and luckily I happen to know one or two.

Sean:
One of the things that I love about your photography is that your images are so vivid and evocative.  Your Illuminate Parkinson’s project a few years ago, which was clearly a very personal endeavor and which I thought was brilliantly done, not only helped to raise awareness and funds for people affected by the disease, but it also gave you the unique opportunity to photograph a wide array of writers, artists, musicians, actors, and filmmakers.  In those photos, you tapped into each subject’s personality and projected it visually in their environment.  How has that been different, for you, from this project where you have taken photos of artists and they have then have elaborated on them, creating uniquely individualistic and expressive representations of themselves?

Allan:
I was fully in the driver’s seat for that, whereas for this project, once the shoot was over and the portrait selected, I had to let go.  Not easy for a person used to controlling every facet of his work.

 

Illuminate Parkinson’s – Terry Gilliam (2012). Allan’s brilliant portrait of director Terry Gilliam, best known for his films “Time Bandits”,”Brazil”, “The Fisher King” and “12 Monkeys”. The portrait was done to help raise awareness for Parkinson’s.

Sean:
With Temple of Art, you’re placing a spotlight on artists that many people are familiar with on some level or another, but also on artists who are perhaps not as established in the public consciousness and yet who have created remarkable work.  How do you see your role in putting them in helping them to reach a wider audience?

Allan:
That is one of my favorite elements, that as the project progressed, I had the opportunity to curate new artists, to find new work I love.  It fits beautifully into the narrative I have planned for the documentary as well.

Sean:
This isn’t the first Kickstarter project that you’ve been a part of.  What has your experience been with crowd-sourcing and how do you feel that it can help to transform the way that creative people and their fans interact, exchange ideas, and support one another?

Allan:
I believe that the fact there that there are new resources available for artists, inventors, writers, creatives at large, to realize their crazy anarchist dreams is utterly incredible.  I’m experimenting a little with incorporating both old and new media in this endeavor, by co-producing the book with the publisher Baby Tattoo, and integrating it with the crowd-funding platform for the film.  It’ll be interesting.  I will say that unlike my previous project, this has been my full-time job for three months.  I have a new appreciation for the work producers do, because I unintentionally became one.  And one was nowhere near enough; I even wrangled one of my dearest friends Olga Nunes, transformed her into my co-producer and had her in sweatshop-like conditions in my basement for 3 weeks.  But then we went to Disneyland, so there’s that.

Sean:
What’s been your favorite or the most memorable part of this project thus far?

Allan:
Seeing the finished work start coming in, hands down.

Sean:
In one word or phrase, how would you describe Temple of Art?

Allan:
Temple of Art is a documentary continuing the genesis of a two year art and photography project, a unique collaboration between over fifty artists and myself that include original work incorporating multiple modalities and disciplines.

With only 48 hours left to fund Temple of Art on Kickstarter, I’m really pushing for anyone to help back this amazing and truly important project.  Shine a spotlight on the world of art again and support the artists!

Mr. Amato’s Facebook page.
Temple of Art’s Facebook page.