LOS ANGELES — The adult community is in full force at Wönzimer art gallery in downtown L.A. on Thursday night to support the launch of “Deeper,” Kayden Kross’ 448-page photography book, titled after the Vixen Media Group (VMG) studio imprint she founded and drawn from its expansive photo library.
The evening also marks the live launch of the "Gasplighting" cultural movement Kross helped found online.
The guest list includes dozens of industry luminaries, from performers Octavia Red, Leana Lovings, Vanna Bardot, Kyaa Chimera, and Seth Gamble, to jack-of-all-trades Kasey Warner, director Mike Quasar, screen legend Christy Canyon, and agent Mark Spiegler.
Several framed prints by Kross’s book collaborator, photographer Daren Cornell, are on display.
Kross launched the Deeper imprint in 2018, and Cornell has been there since the beginning. Back then, VMG co-founder Mike Miller told Kross that to launch her studio the right way, she had to hire a good photographer.
“I brought in photographer after photographer, and no one hit it right,” says Kross. “I think I interviewed 20 different photographers, and when Daren took that first image of Riley Reid, I knew he was my guy. We’ve worked together ever since, and we work really well together. I tell him what I'm looking for, and he can create that visually, so even though I’m using words and he’s using images, we’re able to clearly connect on an idea. We have a shorthand at this point.”
Though Kross has long considered herself more a student of literature than photography, she loves how the latter medium can capture emotion in a different way.
“Photography forces you to look so much longer than the moving image. It captures so much more detail,” says Kross, clad in a sleek black outfit.
Cornell, wearing a denim jacket, echoes that sentiment.
“We're so used to seeing stuff on our screens, but the images are so fast and immediate, and then we’re moving on to the next one,” he says. “Hanging actual prints kind of forces you to slow down and really take in the image rather than just swipe past it. It invites the viewer to think a little bit differently, and it makes them part of the conversation. I just think it’s cool to see this stuff framed in a gallery rather than just see it on your phone.”
Cornell also appreciates the large turnout; while this isn’t the first gallery exhibition of his work, it is the first time he’s held one for his adult industry photography. He especially relishes seeing his crew again.
“They contribute ideas and inspire me every day, so to see them here and see so many people enjoying the work is super cool, and really special,” says Cornell.
Kross notes that Cornell’s style is what’s special, and she explains why it speaks to her inner artist.
“There's a softness to his work, but also there's something hot in the softness. It’s not just about the center of the image; it’s about the straight lines juxtaposed against the curve of the human body.”
Kross points to one image where the model’s foot is curled ever so slightly.
“It’s that little curl right there,” she explains. “Daren knows that's what I'm looking for. I can't give him a checklist and say, I want X, Y, and Z, but he'll recognize those moments when they happen and capture them beautifully.”
The photographs are mounted in black frames against a white background for maximum contrast, with a red carpet lining the floor to accentuate the event’s glamour.
Later in the evening, Kross and Cornell will sit for a Q&A about the “Deeper” book and the larger “Gasplighting” movement, followed by the debut of the trailer for the imprint’s latest feature, “Equilibrium,” and a panel discussion with lead performers Serenity Cox, Jessi Rae, Jewel Diamant, and Jason Luv.
But in the meantime, guests peruse the exhibition and enjoy the open bar while noshing on sexually suggestive snacks from Eat Me Cookies.
On the gallery floor, Kross cites an image of Valentina Nappi in a red dress as one of her favorites, saying it reminds her of a Vogue-style shot — but with a twist.
“If you look closely, you realize she's sitting on someone's face, and you only know because she's holding his hands. And I love the surprise of that,” she says.
Cornell says he loves working with adult performers, especially because they're open-minded and lack inhibition.
“I love that they're exhibitionists, and because they’re a bit more comfortable in their own skin, I can get a bit more creative with them,” he explains. “But I learn from them as well. I like to collaborate and see what they want to do and go from there. And sometimes, we have an idea of what we're going to shoot, and it becomes something completely different. I just try to approach every shoot the same and let it morph into whatever it's going to be.”
Pressed for a favorite photo of his own, Cornell points to a black-and-white portrait of Janice Griffith. He also cites a photo from his very first Deeper shoot with Reid among his all-time favorites.
That black-and-white image, titled “The First Time,” features Reid with her legs spread and the bedsheets pulled between them.
Among the photographs on display, the exhibition includes “The Devil Wears,” depicting a model locked in a chastity belt; “Primal Instincts,” showing a model holding two Dobermans on a leash, backdropped by Los Angeles’ hills; and “Drift,” of a chain attached to an engraved lock that reads “Deeper.”
The display price of $1,500 for each print has already been met for “Drift,” which is marked “Sold.”
Meanwhile, a pair of projectors beam still more images onto the wall, including an empty bed with rumpled sheets, and a prisoner inspecting the erection in a cop’s pants.
Three posters also feature reprinted Polaroid images of various Deeper stars, from Red kissing two men to Gamble posing nude in front of a woman suspended in the air by ropes.
The book and exhibition are part of the Kross-led “Gasplighting” movement.
The term is defined on the movement’s website as, in part, “the distortion of people’s experiences with their own bodies, particularly around health, sexuality and pleasure that can lead to manifestations of self-doubt.”
The evening launches the book and serves as the movement's live debut; the site describes it as “a curated sensory gallery exhibition” that brings “a unique perspective at the intersection of culture, sexuality, and storytelling through multiple rooms that will activate all five senses.”
Kross goes into more detail about the movement's origins.
“‘Gasplighting’ is essentially a conversation we launched with an Instagram handle,” she explains. “We created it to have a space to bring topics that essentially get boxed up and set to the side and attributed to adult, and bring them into a space where people won't quite see them through that frame. We try to open that conversation back up and explore it through a modern lens instead of an old narrative.”
Kross insists the movement isn’t political. In fact, she says, it’s anything but.
“It’s an online space where we can talk about all the things we've stopped talking about because we’ve just accepted them and internalized them, because that’s what we were taught. It’s about exploring what that stuff used to mean, and what it means now.”
Kross also notes that the “Gasplighting” movement isn’t about combating purity culture, but rather about expanding ideas of what is considered acceptable when it comes to human sexuality.
“People come to sex for all kinds of reasons, none of which are inherently good or bad,” says Kross. “But if it’s transactional, it’s immediately written off as illicit. If it’s for validation, it’s considered too shallow. We’ve made sexual connection so narrow in terms of what’s allowed and what’s not, and as a result, we don’t approach a lot of our sexual encounters honestly.”
Kross adds that many people are harmed by being misled because lies hurt more than just feelings; they erode connection.
“There’s a performative aspect of sex that’s really damaging to people who are trying to build something based on trust,” she says.
For now, the photographs on exhibit and the launch of the book that compiles them remain the event's central focus.
Copies of “Deeper” are available for $149, about one-tenth of the price for each displayed print, at a table alongside studio merch.
The event, exhibition, and photo book also represent mainstream recognition of her work, and for Kross, they expand the Deeper brand.
“This was on our bucket list. We’ve always wanted to do a book and a gallery show, and when we’ve talked about it in the past, it was never taken seriously. Now look at us,” says Kross, taking in the sight of guests purposefully winding their way through the crowd to appreciate Cornell’s work.
Kross says she envisions books and other media as a part of Deeper’s future.
“Deeper is not going to be a studio that only makes content,” Kross explains. “We’ve had so many wonderful, interesting opportunities come up in the course of bringing this gallery together, and there are so many avenues we can explore at this point. It’s just a matter of figuring out which ones we want to pursue.
“Technology is moving so quickly, so I don’t know what the future is going to look like or where we’re going to land, but part of what this gallery is all about is seeing what the mainstream world can handle at this point, and giving us momentum to seize the next opportunity.”
Wönzimer will showcase Deeper on Friday and Saturday night. Admission is free, but RSVP is required. For more information, click here.
