I HAVE KNOWN RON ATHEY SINCE THE 1980S WHEN OUR PATHS WOULD CROSS IN THE FILTHIEST L.A. CLUBS I COULD FIND. RON WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE I HAD EVER SEEN, AND I AM AFRAID I WAS QUITE SMITTEN. HE BECAME A GOGO BOY AT CLUB FUCK, WHICH ATTRACTED THE HARDCORE PIERCING TECHNO SUBCULTURE THAT WAS STARTING TO EMERGE THEN, AND EVENTUALLY HIS DANCING DEVELOPED INTO ACTIONS WHICH BECAME THE PERFORMANCE ARTWORK FOR WHICH HE IS KNOWN TODAY.
THESE WORKS WERE CREATED DURING THE AIDS CRISIS, WHEN ARTISTS WERE DEALING WITH THAT MOMENT OF DESPAIR WITH PHYSICAL DEMONSTRATIONS OF RAGE. THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL OF HIS WORKS WAS HIS PRINTING PRESS PERFORMANCE, DURING WHICH HE CUT SYMBOLS INTO HIS FRIEND’S BACK, PRESSED PAPER TOWELS TO THEM AND CLIPPED THE BLOOD PRINTS TO A PULLEY SYSTEM THAT HOISTED THEM OVERHEAD IN THE PERFORMANCE SPACE. ALTHOUGH MINIMALLY SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, THIS PERFORMANCE BECAME PART OF THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND CONTROVERSY REGARDING WHICH ARTWORKS WERE SUITABLE FOR PUBLIC FUNDING.
HIS WORK SPEAKS TO THE ETERNAL PRIMITIVE IN ALL OF US AND TO OUR SHARED HUMAN EXPERIENCES — FEAR, SHAME, SEXUALITY, MORTALITY, AND FAITH — IN A TIMELESS TRADITION OF BLOOD RITUALS, FROM THE DRAMA OF HUMAN SACRIFICE ON MAYAN ALTARS TO A MESSIAH ON A CROSS TO CHILDBIRTH TO BLOOD TESTS TO OUR CURRENT WAR…
I ASKED RON IF I COULD USE THIS IMAGE FROM HIS 2014 PERFORMANCE CALLED ‘INCORRUPTIBLE FLESH’ WITH A PLASTIC CAST HEADPIECE BY HERMES PITTAKOS; AN EXAMPLE OF HOW ELEGANTLY REAL TRANSGRESSION — AND OUR INDIVIDUAL SEARCHES FOR TRANSCENDENCE — CAN BE.
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