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2 February 2022 1:03 PM

Trailblazing gay artist and Pink Narcissus director James Bidgood dies aged 88

The American photographer and filmmaker's work focused on camp and male erotic.

By Alastair James

Words: Alastair James; Image: A still from 1971’s Pink Narcissus, YouTube, Chuch of Film

The gay artist and filmmaker, James Bidgood, has died at 88. 

According to US media, the groundbreaking filmmaker, drag artist, and photographer died on Monday (31 January) at his home in New York City.

Bidgood was known primarily for his underground gay classic, Pink Narcissus, which he filmed over seven years.

“I would love to do a shoot with them”

People have been paying tribute to the artists online. Writer Patrick Sandberg tweeted: “RIP to my old friend James Bidgood, one of the first mentors I got to work with in New York. He directed a film called Pink Narcissus—it’s a classic, some say a masterpiece. We’re all forever floating in the wake of his tide.”

Another person said: “RIP James Bidgood, one of the best gay psychedelic minds whose work wasn’t simply about loving beautiful boys but recognizing them as cosmic and endless, portals of desire rather than objects.”

Bidgood’s work has been cited as influences for many including David LaChapelle, Pierre et Gilles, Charli XCX, and Lil Nas X.

In 2019, Charli XCX told Dazed: “I was really obsessed with […] James Bidgood, who made the movie The Pink Narcissus. I would always use both Pierre et Gilles and James Bidgood as references for music videos and photo shoots. I think a lot of my collaborators still reference their work. I would love to do a shoot with them, it would just be amazing.”

Born in Wisconsin during The Great Depression in 1933, Bidgood displayed an air for creativity from an early age. Lissa Rivera, who curated the exhibit James Bidgood: Reveries at the Museum of Sex in New York told Another in 2019 that, “He begged his mother to buy him a paper doll set”.

Bidgood moved to New York City when he was only 18 in 1951. He told Another himself that, “New York was exactly as it appeared to be in MGM musicals. It was fast and it was more exciting than your second orgasm.”

He started performing drag at Club 82 in New York’s East Village at a time when it was still illegal for crossdressing to happen other than on Halloween. His stage name was Terri Howe. 

Bidgood attended the Parsons School of Design where he created gowns for high society balls telling Another of that time, “I knew little about the art world then; I still am not really very interested.”

Gay erotica became a passion for the photographer and filmmaker. “I wanted to photograph naked young men as opulently and as attentively as those professional ladies appearing in Playboy-type magazines were photographed,”

“I knew my film could be confiscated being processed by Kodak if they spotted too much flesh colour while they scanned the processed film. However the surrounds in my photography were usually so elaborate those making these judgments were I think often confused. I usually covered the dangly bits with something like organza or china silk or stretch fabrics,” he continued.

His best-known work is his gay erotic film, Pink Narcissus, which explores the fantasies of a young gay sex worker, played by Bidgood’s roommate, Bobby Kendall. Don Brooks and Charles Ludlam, a famed avant-garde theatre artist also starred.

The film was shot over seven years in Bidgood’s flat with Bidgood acting as writer, director, and cinematographer. It was released to some acclaim in the underground film scene in 1971. 

However, Bidgood removed his name from the project following disagreements with a producer. The Advocate also says that for many years it was thought Andy Warhol had directed the project. 

In 1999, the film was re-released and Bidgood was praised for his work. At the time, Ed Sikov wrote in The Advocate of Bidgood’s “breathtaking camera movements, elaborate forest scenes, wild Persian fantasy sequences, and a neon netherworld.”

The same year saw the release of Bidgood, a collection of Bidgood’s photography by Bruce Benderson. 

A GoFundMe campaign that has been set up to cover Bidgood’s funeral and burial expenses says he lived a frugal life in his later years. 

“Working out of his tiny, crowded, rent-stabilized West Village apartment, Jim saved every bolt of fabric, every box of glitter, every can of paint and every piece of paper he came across. For the last 10 years, Jim rarely left his apartment,” says Kelly McCraig. 

RIP James Bidgood.

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