TONY KELLY - BROKEN LUXURY
TONY KELLY - BROKEN LUXURY
Tony Kelly is a fine art photographer and director with an acute penchant for opulence and over-indulgence. The saturated colors, the outlandish settings and the absurd situations portrayed in his work give viewers the escapism and ok-boomer fantasies they never knew they needed. Regardless, Kelly’s work dramatically portrays the decadence that comes with excessive luxury and wealth: a theme that could not ring truer today with the acute wealth disparity we’re currently experiencing around the world.
How have you been dealing with the current global pandemic?
I know that our ancestors in Ireland have had to really deal with a lot more suffering, pain and famine, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to try to find a better living and all. We’re just being asked to stay at home. If you look at that by comparison, it’s not really that big a struggle, is it? I’ve just kind of chilled out at home. It’s kind of the first time in our lives where your problem is also the entire world’s problem. In this case, everybody’s worried about the same thing worldwide, which is really an incredible concept to think about. It’s very unifying.
Has this pandemic cancelled projects or just created new ones?
I tend to always try to find a way where I can continue to be creative and productive. It’s been a very creative time for me. My background is in Press photography, and so you develop an instinct to work with what you have around you and record what’s happening around you. And although my work is very produced (sets, models, etc.), I’m very much about looking at what’s happening. So I recently embarked on a new project which is to photograph abandoned luxury in L.A.. It’s a very special feeling to cycle the streets on my own. I’ve always said L.A. is my studio, and it’s like I’m in the studio alone right now. I’ve been going around on my bicycle with a backpack just photographing the emptiness, the peacefulness of all of these places we normally associate with luxury: the luxury shops on Rodeo, the Beverly Hills hotel, the Chateau Marmont. I’ll do a book at the end of this.
How did you make the shift from press photographer to editorial photographer?
I just followed my instincts. As a press photographer, you’re generally recording someone else’s scene: a football game, a news story, a political speech… it’s not your production. I always felt the need to set up my own production, my own theatre and at some point, I decided that I wanted to do that full time.
How would you define your work?
I would say it’s just me, Tony Kelly, and my perspective on things I see. My work is an ironic take on the little idiosyncrasies that we have as humans. I don’t define it in a genre, I just describe it as me. I keep it simple: it’s seeing the world through my eyes.
Your work has what I’d like to call an “ok boomer” aesthetic: irresponsible wealth and unattainable beauty. Where does the fascination come from?
In Ireland you’re wealthy if you’re funny, interesting, fun… I come from a society that’s completely opposite to the society that I live in, and that enables me to see it through very critical eyes and not have any attachment to it. I didn’t grow up with palm trees, blue skies, a Rolls Royce and all that stuff, so I’m able to document all that from a tourist’s eyes. I live in Hollywood and I’m still a tourist after 10 years. I have no aspirations to drive around in a half a million-dollar car and have a big mansion with chicks in the pool, you know? I see through all the glam and all the wealth, and somewhere in between the reality and my perspective on it is where the image arrives.
I didn’t grow up with palm trees, blue skies, a Rolls Royce and all that stuff, so I’m able to document all that from a tourist’s eyes.
Excessive wealth is very prominent in your work. In the current climate where wealth disparity is at its peak, has luxury gone broke?
I don’t think luxury will ever go broke. Luxury is based on a human appetite for escape, and the luxury items are just disposable pieces of material that never go broke because of that appetite that fuels the industry. That being said, when I see the vulgar use of wealth, I can’t help but to just laugh at it. People try to empower themselves by buying a Lamborghini and driving it on Sunset Boulevard, but the rest of the people laugh at them. They actually end up disempowering themselves. It’s a very delicate line the human relationship with wealth, power and money, but I do know, having spent time here, that the very wealthy are so boring. They have nothing to laugh about because their lives are all structured and calculated. It’s surgically planned so nobody is really themselves: the higher you go on that ladder the less substance there is on a human level. The real people I connect with here are the waiters, the valets, the cleaners, etc. They’re the people that remind me of home, and they’re the ones who empower me, and recharge my batteries. I portray the wealthy but I connect with real everyday people.
Have you ever gotten heat for being a white man portraying excessive privilege and greed? If so, has this affected your work? Why/not?
No, because I think people can see that it’s parody. I leave it up to interpretation but generally I’ve received an immense amount of support. The general feedback I get is that people see my work and they enjoy it. I’m grateful for the positive feedback. It fuels me.
What’s it like making a living as an artist nowadays?
Money is a by-product of doing something well, and something that you love doing. You have to eat it, dream it, live for it. The financial side comes as a by-product from that. If you put money first, or go out there to make money, you’re fucked.
How has social media impacted your work?
In an amazing way. When I started doing pictures for fashion magazines, I was always competing against the guys who would give them exactly what they wanted and I was never that guy. I was never an insider. Now with social media, I can have my own platform and that’s fantastic. You don’t need to be endorsed by magazines like before. Instagram gives me a medium that I like to service every day, and it’s giving my brain a workout every day. It also gives you the audience that you can connect with directly every day. I like talking to people, I like receiving messages… I do it all myself. Art is such a personal thing, and I love to have that personal touch on social media and communicate with people who consume my work. When you’ve been an outsider all your career like I have, Instagram gives you a platform to express yourself as you wish, when you wish. There’s no more excuses, you’re the editor, the creative director and the photographer.
What does beauty mean to you as a photographer?
Beauty is what stimulates my eye and what stimulates me as an artist. It’s so many different things. I’m very sensitized to beauty, which I’m grateful for. I can feel beauty from the pronunciation of a word, or a piano, or a person walking on the street. I don’t think I can define it as one thing, and it’s something I would hate to do, because it would limit my interpretation and acceptance of beauty. It comes on my radar, it comes to me, and it changes all the time.
“My work is an ironic take on the little idiosyncrasies that we have as humans. I don’t define it in a genre, I just describe it as me. I keep it simple: it’s seeing the world through my eyes. ”
Beauty is being redefined. Have conversations on diversity and inclusivity impacted your work in any way?
It’s more about embracing it than letting it impact my work. My background as a press photographer got me used to change. Most of the campaigns I’m doing today have a different cast than they would have had before, and I’m down for change and progress. It’s great to see that people who didn’t previously have a voice have one now. I just hope that this strong movement of inclusion and diversity doesn’t lead to brands exploiting minorities in order to tick boxes. I’m very much a protector of justice, and in favor of people treated with respect.
Do you consider work political, satirical, indulgent or all of the above?
I let people define my work for me. As long as your drive and your vision are strong, you shouldn’t define your work. The pictures fit into society, society shouldn’t fit into the picture. If there’s political commentary in my work, wonderful, but it’s never the intended goal. The intended goal is to create entertaining photographs that put a smile on people’s faces. I refuse to define it because it limits me.
What’s it like when destroying all those luxury items on set?
I just find great joy in breaking luxury items and photographing them. It gives them character. I have pictures of burnt Louboutin, and I think they’re more beautiful burnt. The car looks more beautiful in the pool than it does on the road. Destroying these things, burning them, chopping them up, brings out a new element of beauty.
What is your biggest indulgence and why?
Cashmere for sure. I have a large collection of cashmere: sweaters, covers, I even have a jog suit made of cashmere.
What is the one thing you cannot help but be greedy about?
Chocolate. I gave up chocolate a few years ago because I always had a sweet tooth, and then I found these gluten free vegan chocolate brownies here, and I started eating them… my girlfriend ate some the other day and I found myself thinking: “don’t eat my chocolate brownie!”. I absolutely love chocolate.
If you suddenly had infinite wealth, how would you spend it?
I would absolutely continue doing what I’m doing. I’d be able to fund bigger projects without restrictions. That’s my mission, that’s why I’m here, to create the images that I do. But also, one of the things that I aspire to have, is a 25-meter salt water swimming pool, heated to 29 degrees, so I can wake up in the morning and swim in it every day.
You’re officially part of the Plastik family now, going from frequent collaborator to resident artist for Plastik Gallery. What made you join?
I’ve had a great relationship with Eli Rezkallah. For me it’s about one thing and that’s relationships. Since I’ve stated working with Eli, he’s always said to me “just do your thing”. It’s about trust that people understand my work. Plastik has been a great supporter of what I do, so it’s a no-brainer.
What’s next for Tony Kelly?
Next is today. Many people say I’m gonna do this, or that, and they don’t do it. So ask yourself, what are you doing today? You have 365 days a year to work your hardest, to invest yourself in your craft and to eventually reflect back on when the year is over, not the other way around.
Interviewed by Ralph Arida