Longtime Lower East Side resident, photographer and community culture czar Clayton Patterson has a show opening tomorrow as part of the Photoville Festival 2023. Clayton Patterson’s Front Door: Residents and Writers is being presented by Abrons Arts Center and features rarely-seen images from Patterson’s “Front Door series.” The collection includes portraits taken in front of his 161 Essex Street studio from the mid-1980s to early 2000s. Known as the “Wall of Fame, ” the door served as an important canvas for neighborhood graffiti artists and as a backdrop for Patterson’s portraits of locals.
The photos will be installed on the exterior gates of LES Coleman Skate Park at the corner of Monroe and Pike Streets, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Park at 216 E Broadway. On Saturday, June 3 from 4–6pm, there is an opening reception at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Park to celebrate the exhibition.
Additionally, you can stop by and pose for a portrait session with Patterson at the LES Skate Park on Sunday, June 11, from 1-3pm. A pop-up photobooth will be on site for “Harold Hunter Day.” Hunter was a celebrated member of New York City’s skateboarding community and an actor featured in Larry Clark’s movie, “Kids,” who died in 2006. In tribute to his memory, Harold Hunter Day draws more than 1,000 skaters from around the world to LES Skate Park for contests, giveaways, and live music.
