~iO . . hits the Big time !!


iO TILLET WRIGHT, when she was running OVERSPRAY MAG, at a SECRET PROJECT ROBOT opening. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC. Oct 11, 2008.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH


yes, that . . . is – !!

NYC’S very own . . . iO – !!

splashed across the tabloids, this week !!
making headlines for romancing AMBER HEARD, even though the beautiful but apparently smart crazy wild actress is . . . married to JOHNNY, JOHNNY D-E-P-P – !!

iO TILLIT-WRIGHT vs JOHNNY DEPP ?
I’m thinkin’ . . iO – wins !!

it takes a lot to steal the wind – off a pirate ship.

see: Photog friend exposes rift between Amber Heard & Johnny DEPP – PAGE SIX, NEW YORK POST

the ‘photog friend’ – they are all referring to is . . . IO.
Io ?
or, as she likes to spell it: iO !!
the story is making tabloid headlines all over the world, including the international Daily Mail, People mag, etc etc.
note: seems iO has gone to the platinum side !!, and her ‘he’ side is on focus, so much so, that the Daily Mail article actually refers to her, as “he” – !!
so, congrats – IO !!

she’s also apparently trying to look way older than her actual years . . . so trendy !!
I’m with ya on that !! – in truth she’s about 29.
damn, if life in the fast lane – sure don’t take it’s toll !!

ps: did you catch the whole Page Six post – at some point she was even living in Johnny’s guesthouse, but “Johnny doesn’t like Io”, and at so,at some point she had to leave – !!


RYAN McGINLEY – ‘PORTRAIT OF IO’
Ryan McGinley, ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’, March 18 – April 17, 2010.
TEAM GALLERY, 83 Grand St, Soho, NYC
OPENING NIGHT PHOTO: NANCY SMITH


IO TILLET-WRIGHT shows up to the opening.
OPENING NIGHT PHOTO: NANCY SMITH

see: RYAN McGINLEY . . . ‘Everybody Knows . . .” – OPENING NIGHT PIX / artlovers archive

so, as you can see, iO can switch from male to femme, in the bat of an eyelash. she’s very charismatic, and loves to play the game. unlike most of the mundane already !! ‘transgender’ stories being dumped on us left and right these days, artist that she is, iO likes to ricochet off both sides of the game – you go – girl.
she seems to really get off on the charade, the insta-flicker of sexual ‘persona’ and confusion.

one thing is for certain, she’s seems to be very camera-shy about her (own) body. you will never see any naked photos of her ?!!
even that McGinley shot – is a head portrait.

so, how old is iO – because she looks 40, in those recent tabloid pix.
in reality – she’s somewhere in the range of 29.

I know this, because iO . . . went to elementary school with my kids, Kate and Theo, PS 3 – on Hudson St. near Christopher in the West Village.
(“all roads lead to . . Nancy” / thank you very much for that enduring and apparently, correct quote – CHARLIE FINCH.)


screengrab: WATCH IO – give TED TALK – HUFFINGTON POST

PS 3 – and then, the WORLD – !!!!!!!

yep, this is what iO looked like – in elementary school. she was a boy and there was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. she drove everybody crazy. transgender, even bi-sexual wasn’t even in the dictionary back then. but role-playing was, and her parents were touring actors, so . . . this being PS 3, this being hardcore downtown public school NYC – let the kid role-play !!
and as she says it . . so much better, it’s none of the above . . . it’s: living outside the BOX !!
tell me about it. except for me – it’s an issue of radar, not gender.
insider vs outsider. always on the outside, looking in. never fitting in.
it’s borderline – high functioning autistic. no social skills, all heat-seeking radar.

and that was that.
but, even back then, as a 6 yr old kid she dove into her life like a full-blown tornado slash movie role – if you check out that Huffington Post article on her TED TALK, link below – it states that “for 8 years she convinced everybody she was a boy”, starting from age 6, so yeah, that’s her timeline at PS 3.

that was her heat-target mission when she went to school – to play with the boys. she ignored the girls and they ignored her. the big sticking point was the bathroom. it was a big controversy esp among those dumb-ass and pretty much clueless PTA moms over there, because iO used the boy’s bathroom. there was a whole group that thought iO was a girl, right ???
and shouldn’t use the boy’s bathroom . . .
and then, there was a whole other group who thought that iO was a BOY ?!!
and it was – ok.
so, why did they think iO was a boy ?
“because she uses the boy’s bathroom” – was the go-to answer. go figure, and seriously, that’s how it played out, the entire K thru grade 5.

she was a pretty intimidating kid for any unaware adult to confront, she knew what she wanted. she reveled in her theatrical role, and took much delight in confusing as many people as she could. though I’m not sure the boys were that convinced, but maybe they were. who knows. She just zoomed around with seemingly a boundless and joyfully engaged inner life, trouble was her middle initial. hellbent from the age of 6 on a ‘theatrical’ mission: gender confusion. all the while, playing it out with as huge of a mischievous grin as you could imagine, flitting about her impish red-haired pixie face. she was I’m thinking . . an Irish imp, super precocious. not to be defined by convention.
just born that way. get used to – it.

but am I surprised she’s Johnny Depp’s love rival ?
omg – so fab / fab tab-loid !! yes !!

see: IO – FOR 8 YEARS SHE CONVINCED THE WORLD, SHE WAS A BOY . . . with TED TALK VIDEO LINK – HUFFINGTON POST

see: iO Tillett Wright – Overspray Magazine . . . Io founded Overspray in 2002, and ‘shuttered’ it in 2008. the “world’s first street art publication” – ?!!
I don’t think so. drama, drama, drama follows this kid around like a second skin.

see: iO Tillet Wright . . about
damn, she EVEN has a – press agent – !!
guess that comes from having been a . . kid actor ?

see: iO’s PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO

where you can find this self-portrait .. Io and Amber:


IMAGE: IO TILLET WRIGHT-TUMBLR

see: iO’s – HOME PLATFORM / PAGE

‘LOSE MY NUMBER’ – PAU WAU PUBLICATIONS 2009
PHOTOGRAPHY BY iO TILLET WRIGHT – FOREWORD BY DIEGO CORTEZ
LIMITED EDITION of 250 – SOLD OUT
for more info: & a link to the book’s complete set of photos