Jeremy Kost: Friends with Benefits

Jeremy Kost is a tireless chronicler of gender, sexuality, and nightlife. Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, he now lives and works in New York City, though he regularly travels the world to capture his images, whether they’re of toned male models in the Californian desert or vibrant drag queens strutting through Pittsburgh. Strongly influenced by Warhol, both in his choice of subjects and technique, Kost extends the creative potential of one of Warhol’s favorite tools – the Polaroid camera.  In Kost’s work, Polaroid images not only form the basis of silkscreen paintings but are elevated to the status of fine art in complex, multilayered photo-collages.

In May 2012 The Warhol partnered with Hugo Boss to present a solo exhibition of Kost’s work in New York City, Of an Instance.  Friends with Benefits, the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, builds upon the New York show by focusing on a group of works that depict an intimate family of renowned Pittsburgh-based drag performers. It features new work produced especially for the exhibition, including a monumental photo-collage executed on the site of Andy Warhol’s grave.