'Essence of rock': Mick Rock's Vegas debut

I never expected to attend an opening in Vegas of the work of photographer Mick Rock. I am a huge fan. Rock is famous for his classic shots of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry and too many others to list. Rock's show wasn't exactly on the Strip; Symbolic Galleries is located behind the Strip facing the under-construction parking garage of MGM's CityCenter. This is an industrial area not too far from where the topless bars are zoned. But it does have the colorful name of Dean Martin Drive.

Still, once inside, the gallery is all one would expect from high-end art with wine being served to the invitation-only guests and a violin and viola gently setting the mood albeit performing arrangements of songs by Queen, Blondie and Bowie. This was the sort of place that while waiting for Rock to arrive and admiring a print of Iggy Pop, back in the Raw Power days, a man working the crowd made his way to me with a business card in case I was interested in shopping at his Lamborghini dealership. I probably should not have been surprised -- the print of Iggy Stooge was $2,200 for one of an edition of 90. There was even a suitably grandiose curator for the exhibit, Warwick Stone, who told me: "I am single-handedly trying to raise rock photography up a rung on the ladder from entertainment to a pure art."

Rock arrived like one of the characters from his photographs, frilly hair, shades; think Ian Hunter. And Rock was a total rock star. My favorite was that Rock had a small black bag. But for some reason he did not like carrying the bag, and so the publicist for Symbolic Gallery wound up following Rock with the black bag. "I don't know what is in it; I don't want to know," the publicist said. This was just after Rock had asked for the bag and then returned it to the publicist without a glance or a word. Rock was talking to another person and just reached his hand out and let go of the black bag fully expecting flunkies to take it like a roadie being handed off a guitar.

A couple of hours into the opening, an actual rock star showed up, Slash. Interestingly, Slash has not yet been photographed by Rock; the guitarist is just an actual fan of the man's photos. I asked Slash what he liked so much about Rock's shots, and he offered earnest expletive-laden praise. I told him I could not use that quote for the L.A. Times. So Slash shrugged and pragmatically offered: "OK, then his photos capture something about the essence of rock 'n' roll."

Finally on the photo above: No disrespect to Warwick Stone's pioneering efforts in discovering rock photography as art, but I have had this as my proudest possession for years. This Mick Rock photo is much smaller than the ones for sale at the show, and also this is not a numbered limited edition. But it is signed by the artist and mine, and I love looking at it every day.

Anyway, since Buffet photographer Sarah Gerke could not make the opening on Friday night to shoot Mick Rock, I had her photograph this morning the entire contents of Abowitz Gallery to go with this item. (Photo by Sarah Gerke)