Nieuwe Revu
Press ID issued by the Nieuwe Revu, 1980
The popular Dutch weekly picture magazine Nieuwe Revu was one of the publications that Bettie and I contacted to promote our exhibition "Amsterdam Privé." We were pleasantly surprised when they responded by offering to pay professional rates for a six page feature on our bar photographs. Since many of the people frequenting the bars of Amsterdam were Nieuwe Revu readers, the article made us instant celebrities. From that point on, when we made our photographic rounds strangers greeted us by name and often followed us from bar to bar. Our business increased dramatically.
The "Amsterdam Privé" article proved to be the first of many articles that Bettie and I would do for the Nieuwe Revu. Our instinct for provocative topics was well suited for a magazine that mixed soccer coverage, nude centerfolds, and catchy human interest stories. Our next article was "De Pik & Kut Tekentest" featuring the penis and vagina drawings that I collected as Conceptual Art along with Bettie's tips on how to evaluate a person's sexuality from their drawings. When we returned to the States, I began utilizing my art history skills researching public archives for material that might be of interest in Holland. There would be articles on "Captured Nazi War Art" and "The Best NASA Space Photographs." The Nieuwe Revu helped me understand the overlap between popular journalism, conceptual art, and art history. It was a confluence of realms that I would continue to explore.
