ARTIST STATEMENT
The Show, Rock, Parchment, Scissors, at the Leica gallery Los Angeles, marks the first official exhibition of my photographic work as a visual artist. Shooting for decades, using multiple mediums including film, Polaroid (on both vintage Land Cameras and SX70), Super 8, and digital, I have filed the work away, and opted for showing my paintings over the years instead. There is no particular reason for this, other than perhaps, unconsciously wanting to preserve the private feeling of discovery I feel, every time I open my flat file or dive deep into the digital archive. As the different bodies of work usually chronicle the chapters of my life, often times, being recorded simultaneously by a film crew, the context within which they exist, seems to grow in relevance, along with the movies I made, over time. Fortunately this holds true for both bad and fine cinema. As they say, “ buildings and whores get more respectable with age”. But when the lens ,( in this case a Leica 24 mmm. mounted on a then, brand new R8), is fortunate to be trained upon an epic stage and beautiful subjects, such as the massive, four part Miniseries, Cleopatra that I had the pleasure of co starring as Marc Anthony in, along with Leonor Varela and Timothy Dalton in Morocco in 1998, behind the scenes coverage can even eclipse the primary offering. Like a memory within a memory. the detail of a dream that wakes you. That’s what lingers.
That’s the power of photography to me. The ownership of the primary experience transfers, because the optics are relatable and universal. Within this agreement, you can puncture the veil and enter, and claim it as yours. Couple this phenomena with a secondary point of reference like a film you may or may not have seen, bury the material in a storage unit for 18 years, hang it on a wall for all to see and you have a time machine.
The Then And Now. Rock, Parchment, Scissors. The Irony of the Egyptian subject matter as it relates to excavated history is not lost either I assume. Again, unplanned, just achingly appropriate. Welcome Stargate crashers. Ankh if you love Egypt!
BIOGRAPHY
Billy Zane is best known for his achievements as an actor in over 120 films. It was his role as Caledon Hockley in the 1997
blockbuster film Titanic that brought him his highest distinction garnering him a Blockbuster movie award as best supporting actor.
Among his other credits: Memphis Belle, Dead Calm, Tombstone, Sniper, Zoolander, Orlando, The Phantom, and Twin Peaks.
Billy will be reprising his role as himself in the upcoming, Zoolander 2 released Feb 12th and is about to star in a new series for
ABC and Lionsgate called Guilt to be shot in London this Spring.
Billy is also accomplished painter who has exhibited in Miami, London, Los Angeles, and Budapest.
Rock, Parchment, Scissors. Photographing Cleopatra, at The Leica Gallery Los Angeles, Jan 23rd 2016, is his first
photographic exhibition.