Michael Bailey-Gates (b. 1993, USA) uses photography to gracefully dissolve binary perceptions of gender, identity and sexuality.
In their intimate, exuberant portraits of themselves and the friends they collaborate with, nothing is fixed; the labels we are conditioned to use ebb into irrelevance and with each photograph expectations are tossed aside. Postures, objects, roles, relations and actions we have been told are exclusive to a few are here playfully reclaimed by anyone. For Bailey-Gates, existence and expression cannot be confined to a handful of definitions.
Whilst Bailey-Gates confronts the conventions that continue to marginalise so many today, they do so without hostility. Instead, Bailey-Gates’ photographs are joyous spaces of affirmation, where those in front of the camera are free to imagine, perform and exist as they wish. It is a seemingly simple underpinning, but for those who have traditionally been chastised for merely being, it is profound.
The photographs that emerge from Bailey-Gates’ belief in the camera as a tool of expression are candidly personal. Affection and familiarity are always present. At the same time, they are not private images. On the contrary, there is a distinct openness to Bailey-Gates’ work, felt most viscerally in the nude bodies that repeatedly appear in their frame. For many, nudity is a vulnerable state, one exposed to judgement from others. Yet for Bailey-Gates and their friends, vulnerability leads to acceptance, and acceptance leads to poise — agency in a world that still scorns what it does not understand. This ease of presence is not only seen through the liberated bodies in his photographs but also in the self-assured gazes that look back at us.
At the heart of Bailey-Gates’ practice is a desire to reflect a world where gender, identity and sexuality are boundless conditions; perpetually in motion and attune to each individual and each moment. Bailey-Gates knows such a world is real, and in looking at their photographs, we are able to catch a glimpse of it.
Michael received his BA in photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York City in 2015. Michael has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, at the Hoxton Square Gallery in London and at the New York Film Festival among other insitutions and galleries. His work was published by several magazines, including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography, The New Yorker, Aperture, the Ravelin Magazine and Interview Magazine.
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'Monochromatic'
Michael-Bailey Gates, Blommers & Schumm, Katie Burnett, Asger Carlsen, Inez & Vinoodh, Boris Eldagsen, Emile Gostelie, Nico Krijno, KYoung, Anja Niemi, Robin de Puy, Pacifico Silano, Scheltens & Abbenes, Christopher Smith, Eva Stenram, and Tereza Zelenkov 29 Apr - 10 Jun 2023A woman in a formal white gown glances sideways, her gaze steady and her expression neutral. A set of hands – the body to whom they belong cropped from the...Read more -
'One of a Kind'
A 10-year anniversary show with unique pieces 3 Sep - 22 Oct 2022When, in 2012, Narda van 't Veer and Jasper Bode founded The Ravestijn Gallery, they were amongst the few galleries in the Netherlands who felt photography was more than simply...Read more -
Summershow 2022: 'The Portrait'
Michael Bailey-Gates, Blommers & Schumm, Koos Breukel, Asger Carlsen, FakeShamus, Inez & Vinoodh, Anja Niemi, Robin de Puy, Pacifico Silano & Patrick Waterhouse. 25 Jun - 27 Aug 2022The human urge to immortalize its likeness is as old as the emergence of civilization: the Ancient Greek immortalized important figures in marble and stone, where Ancient Egyptian portraiture flourished...Read more -
Freiraum für Fotografie | 'New Queer Photography'
Michael Bailey Gates 25 Jun - 21 Aug 2022Julia Gunther takes us on a lesbian beauty pageant in a South African township in her series Rainbow Girls, Bradley Secker portrays LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers from the Middle East who...Read more -
'A Glint In The Kindling'
Michael Bailey-Gates 18 Sep - 23 Oct 2021The Ravestijn Gallery is proud to announce A Glint In The Kindling, the first exhibition in Europe and at the gallery of American artist Michael Bailey-Gates. In A Glint...Read more
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1. Fighting for broom, 2023
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2. Fighting for broom, 2023
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Subtitle (2), 2023
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Subtitle (4), 2023
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Rob, Kennedy, 2023
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"2023", 2023
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Brow Bones, 2023
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Girls outside (Nurse, Nun, Bride), 2023
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Los Angeles, 2023
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Subtitle (1), 2023
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Behind Glass, 2017
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Birthday, 2018
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Body 2, 2020
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Bryce Anderson, 2019
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Carly, 2018
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Ethyl Eichelberger Angels, 2019
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Garage, 2020
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Jane and Me, 2018
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Paul Monroe, 2019
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Performance, 2022
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Porch, 2018
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Rob, 2019
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Two, 2019
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AIPAD's The Photography Show 2023
Inez & Vinoodh, Eva Stenram, Theis Wendt, Michael Bailey Gates 30 Mar - 2 Apr 2023Opening: Thursday 30 March 12.00 – 20.00, by invitation only Fair: Friday 31 March 12.00 – 19.00 Saturday 1 April 12.00 – 19.00 Sunday 2...Read more -
Paris Photo 2021
Group presentation Anja Niemi, Michael Bailey-Gates, Inez & Vinoodh and Patrick Waterhouse 11 - 14 Nov 2021During Paris Photo 2021 The Ravestijn Gallery presents 4 artists in the online viewing room: Inez & Vinoodh (US), Patrick Waterhouse (UK), Michael Bailey-Gates (US)...Read more -
UNSEEN 2021
Group presentation Michael Bailey-Gates, Ferry van der Nat & KYoung 17 - 19 Sep 2021The Ravestijn Gallery is proud to present Michael Bailey-Gates (b.1993, USA), Ferry Van der Nat (b.1965, the Netherlands) and K Young (UK) at UNSEEN 2021....Read more
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Exhibition Review: Monochromatic
Wenjie (Demi) Zhao, Musée Magazine, April 24, 2023 -
The Photography Show fair returns to New York with images of ominous sculptures, elegant figures and the void
Carlie Porterfield, The Art Newspaper, March 31, 2023 -
The Photography Show 2023 Presented by AIPAD : Highlights #2
L'oeil de la Photographie, March 30, 2023 -
What to Expect When the Photography Show Returns to New York
Jenna Adrian-Diaz, Surface, March 30, 2023 -
EXHIBITION REVIEW: 2023 AIPAD PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW
Wenjie Zhao, Musée Magazine, March 15, 2023 -
Who is Michael Bailey-Gates? Photographer slammed for posing nude for the 'New Yorker' while holding naked baby
Anjana PV, MEAWW, December 13, 2022 -
Ode aan de uitbeelding van de mens met portretten in alle vormen en maten
Jan Pieter Ekker, Het Parool, July 28, 2022 -
EXHIBITION REVIEW: THE RAVESTIJN GALLERY PRESENTS “THE PORTRAIT”
Margarita Matta / Parker Renick, Musée Magazine, July 26, 2022 -
Michael Bailey-Gates' "mischief" in picture-making & joy as "resistance to what's not expected"
Hobbes Ginsberg, Yale School of Art, July 19, 2022 -
Photographer Michael Bailey-Gates Presents Prismatic Personhood
Cultured, Cultured Magazine, October 22, 2021 -
Michael Bailey-Gates’ photos artfully redress gender roles
Megan Williams, Creative Review, October 18, 2021 -
Michael Bailey-Gates on 'A Glint in the Kindling'
Daniela Morpurgo, ODDA Magazine, October 18, 2021 -
These portraits are a fantastical exploration into gender and sexuality
Madeleine Seidel, i-D Magazine, October 14, 2021 -
Michael Bailey-Gates’ Arresting Portraits of Themself and Their Community
Joe Brennan, AnOther Magazine, September 30, 2021 -
Performative Portraits
Chantal McStay, The New York Times - The T List, September 9, 2021 -
A Glint In The Kindling
Peter van Brummelen, Het Parool, September 8, 2021 -
In Conversation with Michael Bailey-Gates
Mo Mfinanga, Emmazed , August 17, 2020 -
Michael Bailey-Gates Ignites the Impact of Photographs
Kat Herriman, Cultured Magazine, May 20, 2020 -
Can This Young Photographer Dissolve the Drama of Gender?
Horace D. Ballard, Matte Magazine | Aperture, May 30, 2019 -
The Emerging Photographer Inspired by Classical Portraiture
Ian Bauman, New York Times Style Magazine, March 28, 2018 -
In conversation with Michael Bailey-Gates
Monica Uszerowicz, Ravelin Magazine, March 13, 2018 -
Michael Bailey-Gates' Show Was Full of Boys in Boxers
Emily Manning, i-D, July 15, 2015