LOS ANGELES — April Flores and husband Carlos Batts will be celebrating the publication of their collaborative photo project “Fat Girl” with an art discussion and book signing at the Museum of Contemporary Art tomorrow from 3-6 p.m.
A reception and party will follow with the Fat Girl Book Exhibit launch at the Coagula Curatorial from 7-11p.m. The free event will feature cupcakes, a nail bar and “spanking station” amongst the festivities.
The duo says they developed the concept for the book shortly after they met each other 13 years ago as model and photographer, a relationship that quickly evolved into boyfriend and girlfriend, and eventually husband and wife.
At the MOCA event, Flores and Batts will discuss photography, modeling, making art together and technology in the context of their dynamic parallel relationships.
Although the flame-haired performer is best known for her pioneer work as a BBW adult star and plus-size model (she is the first BBW to grace the cover of Bizarre magazine), “Fat Girl” is less about body politics than the title suggests. The book, composed of roughly 3,000 images, is more of an homage to the couple’s relationship than a social statement.
“The book is a good mix of all of the stuff we do,” Flores told XBIZ. “A chronicle of our love and our lives.”
“It’s not just a bunch of recent photos, it’s photos from a broad range of our life – intimate moments, party moments and gallery moments,” Batts added. “It’s like Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera. It’s a super loose artist relationship that has spawned into something really wonderful."
The book is not expressly about eroticism but it will include stills from Batts’ and Flores’ hardcore projects and offer a glimpse into the couple’s intimate (but not explicit) affairs.
According to the MOCA event page, Flores and Batts draw artistic inspiration from French photographer Dahmane, Petter Hegre and collaborations between Jeff Koons and Ilona Staller to produce their art that “defies genre, boundary and expectation.”
“Fat Girl,” is now available through Amazon and Rare Bird Books.
For more information about the book’s promotional events, click here.
