Winkleman / Plus Ultra Gallery is delighted to present "Athletes," a series of new work by legendary photographer Victor Skrebneski. Organized by Oksana Salamatina, this exhibition presents Skrebneski's large-scale black and white portraits of athletes who competed in the 2006 Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival in Chicago.

Better known for his highly inventive fashion photography and strikingly reductive celebrity portraits, Skrebneski chose his subjects in this series to reflect diversity within gender, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Still apparent throughout, of course, is Skrebneski's signature highlighting of the sculptural in the human form, but the frequent juxtaposition of more formal poses with action or illuminating close-ups reveals the contradictions within the personality of an athlete, at once both fiercely competitive and generously hopeful. Furthermore, in stark contrast to the often-demoralizing cultural war waging over gay rights in the U.S., Skrebneski's portraits exude an unabashedly optimistic spirit of strength, beauty, resolve, pride and pure joy.