Arthur was a young man living in a railroad apartment in mid-Manhattan since the 1950s. He was a handsome weight lifter and `companion’ for famous and rich older men. He also incessantly made and collected movies and photos of women with long HAIR! I was fortunate enough to acquire his extensive archive and will exhibit parts of it on Valentine’s weekend 2014 at Exploding View.
Proof of Arthur’s intense obsession for women’s hair is in the hours of 8mm kodachrome home movies he made of unsuspecting young women milling about Washington Square Park and the beach at Coney Island. Or the hours and hours he spent cutting up and preserving newspaper, magazine and comic images of damsels with long hair or his extensive collection of rare 1950s “Stan’s Photos” of women with hair down to the ground!
What is love? Last month, Arthur told me he had never been on intimate terms with a woman. He said in the ‘60’s young women wouldn’t befriend men who lifted weights. That afternoon I was leaving him to go to a nearby party put on by beautiful young women. I invited him along to perhaps meet a lady. He smiled and politely declined my invitation.
There are many forms of love.
Eric Kroll
