Candy Land: Hari Nef Walks Through a New Exhibition on Actress and Warhol Superstar Candy Darling

Hari Nef kindly agreed to meet me on Thursday afternoon to chat about the new installation dedicated to Candy Darling—the late and very legendary actress, diarist, and cultural icon—now open at photographer Ethan James Green’s New York Life Gallery. (It runs until May 31.) The installation “Pieces of Candy: 10 Artists Celebrate Candy Darling” features artworks presented in two vitrines, with visions of Darling by Drake Carr, Connie Fleming, Jimmy Paul, Lorena Pain, Kabuki Starshine, Sunny Suits, Billy Sullivan, Tabboo!, Elliot Vera, and Jimmy Wright. All were created (with the exception of Tabboo!’s, which dates from 2005), for the 15th-anniversary issue of Luis Venegas’s magazine C☆NDY.

“I can’t imagine anyone other than Ethan, or anywhere else that would create space, not only for C☆NDY to be celebrated in an art world context but for these specific artists to share their perspective,” said Nef. “This feels more contemporary and urgent than the canonical visions of Candy that we already know and love, so shout-out to Ethan and shout-out to Luis for creating a world where transversal beauty is celebrated—and in a magazine named after Candy, because who else could it be named after?”

Nef—who herself appears in the new issue of C☆NDY—is here not only because she can provide an erudite and thoughtful take on the work, but because her interest is both intensely personal and professional. She’s currently looking to put into production her movie script about Darling, who she will also play. Darling’s cultural resonance has never been stronger, nor the timing for Nef’s movie more right: A downtown blonde Venus representative of the late-’60s and early ’70s Warhol Factory era, she was a transgender trailblazer on the precipice of a burgeoning acting career before her death at the age of 29 in 1974. Given where we are in the world right now, both this installation and Nef’s planned movie remind us of the importance of continuing to remember, and honor, Candy Darling.