Franko B

With startlingly honest and surprisingly intimate images, noted photographer Nicholas Sinclair documents the work of Franko B, one of today's most provocative performance artists. Infused with a strong sense of outrage, the photographs depict practices cultivated at the margins of the cultural, political, and social framework of contemporary society. It is high-risk art that uses the artist's own blood as a primary tool of expression. The intensity of the work demands an emotional response from the audience, and that response to the images is as important as the images themselves. With specific references to religion, homelessness, and AIDS, Franko B is a serious work of uncommon urgency, reminding readers of the fragility of the human body and the strength of the human spirit. This volume is strengthened with insightful commentary by art critic Stuart Morgan and curator Lois Keidan.