This show features a selection of the most
iconic images from Swan’s ongoing Destination Sex
City project.
At various times in his career, Charles Swan III has been
called the “Pop Gauguin,” a “visual hedonist,”
and one who possesses “a pervert’s hand with an
artist’s eye.” To his devoted fans, he is known
simply as “CSIII.”
Born in Tahiti to Christian missionaries, Swan grew up among
the vibrant colors and lush landscapes of his adopted homeland.
Like Gauguin before him, Swan found that both his creativity
and his sexual desire were piqued by his surroundings. “Tahiti
was a crazy place for a young boy to grow up,” said
Swan in a rare interview from 1974, “I grew up among
the most beautiful, half-naked girls god ever created.”
Swan left Tahiti for Paris at the age of eighteen to study
illustration supporting himself with odd jobs at various dance
halls and nightclubs, and it wasn’t long before he was
commissioned to create posters advertising their shows. At
the same time, he began to make the earliest sketches of what
would later be called Destination Sex City. Said
Swan of these years, “By the time I was twenty, I had
experienced the best of both worlds. Tahiti taught me how
to lust, and Paris taught me how to fuck.”
In 1969, he was invited to do his first solo show at the
Martin Tunis Gallery. Every piece in the show sold to a single
collector: Max Lambert, who would become Swan’s greatest
champion and – during harder times – his patron.
For reasons that have never been explained, after his show
at Tunis Swan began to remove himself from the art world,
appearing in public only when given an opportunity to play
his music or when the mood hit him. His only interview was
given in 1974 to Zoom Magazine. Since then, Swan has dedicated
all his time to expanding the universe of Destination
Sex City. “I have more to realize than I can in
one lifetime.”
Mr. Swan’s work has appeared in numerous
magazines including Zoom, Oui and Apache, and has graced numerous
album covers. He has exhibited his work in various galleries
in London, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles, and has produced
four albums of music. This is Mr. Swan’s first show
in Osaka.
Swan currently lives in Paris, France and
Los Angeles, California. |
