Artist
A fourth generation artist and sexual adventurer, Lee was doomed to become an artist even if he fought against it as often as possible. First his paternal grandmother and great-grandmother were both who's who world artists, but he said no, I can resist it. Then his mother was a sketch artist, but no, he could resist that too. Then his father handed him a camera and his school put him in a stage show at the age of 7. He gave in.
Lee tried to fight against being an artist in high school after being actively involved in the theatre department, journalism program, photography and literary arts zines -- by going behind the stage and becoming a sound tech, lighting designer, stage manager and director. He even became the business manager for the school newspaper. But he was dragged back in by being asked to write articles, do layout, and couldn't stay away.
Going into college he tried again- he said "I will burn out if I become an artist- I will go into arts administration instead." It seemed like a way to escape being an artist, but soon he was modeling, doing performance artwork on the side, firespinning, doing fetish stage shows -- pretended he wasn't an artist by saying it wasn't full time. Now, years later, he's given up and become an artist.
Photographer, Performance artist, Installation creator, Fire Dancer, Aerial Rope Performer, Burlesque Dancer, Stripper, Drag Queen, Clown, Painter, and collaborative fashion designer and sculptor, Lee also looks at his historical work as a Model as a form of performance all its own. He also directs shows from time to time, takes part in Happenings, Flash Mobs, and Guerrilla Art, MCs, and lives life in the name of art. His sexual life is part of an ongoing life art project that has been being recorded in some way since 1991.
Photographer
Lee Harrington has been taking pictures for most of his life, but only started letting his art be seen by the world at large in the past decade. His passion comes in capturing the moments he encounters, from toy stores to gaming conventions, sex clubs to political protests, religious fervor to emotional turmoil.
Deeply inspired as a child by the work of Man Ray, Steve McCurry and Charles Gatewood (who has since become a friend), Lee's photographic work is consumed with a passion for the people and places that he has been blessed to be surrounded by. Catholic kitsch, historical monuments, role playing games, the fetish community, friends and lovers, the queer scene, landscapes and cityscapes have all had an undeniable effect on his artwork.
With his work having appeared in group and solo gallery shows (Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, Sugar Gallery Oregon, Femina Potens San Francisco, and others), and his images appearing in a wide variety of magazines, books and other publications (White Wolf Publishing, Asphodel Press, Slit Magazine, Penthouse, etc), Lee enjoys sharing his unique artistic vision of the world as a photographer with the world.
To learn more about his other inspirations as a photographer, what got him involved in photography as a child, and to see his current portfolio and list of publications, visit BlackBookArt.com, or visit his portfolio and print store at DeviantArt.com. For the second site, to see and purchase his art nude work you will need to create a free profile.
Video
To take a peek into his amateur work as a videographer (and a handful of other projects), visit his YouTube profile, passionandsoul.
Performance & Visual Artist
Lee Harrington is a performance and visual artist whose sensibilities are informed by a mix of Tristan Tzara, Mumenchantz, Penn Jillette, Osada Eikichi, Ringling Brothers, and Annie Sprinkle, with a splash of busking sensibility and Judy Chicago thrown in for spice. His rope style is West Coast Jazz, his favorite color is love, and he believes strongly in the magic of the dance between audience and artist.
Available for hire for private events, college shows, installation work or large venue performances, Lee's work covers a wide variety of performance and visual styles:
- Rope Shows (Aerial, Western, Japanese, Jazz)
- Drag Queen & King
- Burlesque
- Fabric and fiber arts installations
- Poetry Performance
- Motion Poetry
- Performance Painting
- Fire Spinning
- Body Modification and Hook Suspension
- Collaborative Workings with other artists
- ... and more
You can enjoy examples of some of his *many* international shows on his Facebook Fan Page.
In addition, Lee's work as a painter is starting to gain a degree of acclaim, inculding one viewer who described his work as "part cerulean photography, part cave painting." For examples of Lee's paintings please visit his work at BlackBookArt.com.
Model
For 8 years before his gender transition, Lee Harrington was known as Bridgett Harrington, a female adult film actress, fetish and fashion model. An amazing outlet for his performance art, desire to dress up, and interest in creating a stir in the world, Lee enjoyed this period of his life quite a lot, creating films and modeling for photographs under this name from 1999-2007. Though Lee still models as a still life, photography and video model for friends and artists from time to time, his primary work as a model has passed.
Working on hundreds of projects during his tenure, Lee was one of the few women in his time to bring a curvy bodied aesthetic into the kinky porn world as a 5'11", size 16 model. Appearing as a dominant woman, female slave, hardcore dyke, horny housewife, shy girl, crazy clown, slutty puppy, hardworking pony, pin-up queen, fetish diva and transsexual man, and now living full time as a man (with occasional appearances as a drag queen), Lee has proven himself to be the ultimate chameleon.
For those interested in learning more about his history as a model, please visit RopeLover.com:
Archival Member's site (with 30,000+ images and more)Modeling Credits
Biography