At Skylight: Toby Huss & Harper Steele present AMERICAN SUGARGRISTLE
Toby Huss has been exploring and photographing the vast, connective, visual sinew of America for over five decades. His travels have taken him from Tallahassee to Anchorage, from New York to Reno, and to a hundred beautiful and busted towns in-between. He’s rambled through abandoned shopping malls and perfect bingo halls, through greasy spoons and derelict saloons, all with an eye toward discovering our shared, national, mostly unnoticed aesthetic.
American Sugargristle is Toby’s first collection of such photographs. Accompanied by his singular text (sometimes humorous, oftentimes, eh, not so much), he captures these moments not only with his lens but also with the wit and pathos of his writing. He shares his belief that the heart of America, the very idea of it, is found in its frayed edges. As Harper Joy Steele wrote in her foreword, Toby sees all the “beautiful, mundane, shitty, sad, human, ugly, perfect” things we tend to overlook, and brings them home with him.
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Toby Huss, born in Marshalltown, Iowa, is a multifaceted artist known for his eclectic talents in acting, photography, and painting. His diverse career reflects a deep-seated passion for the artistic process.
He first garnered widespread recognition for his role as the enigmatic character, “Artie: The Strongest Man in the World,” in The Adventures of Pete & Pete. His dynamic range and distinctive presence led to memorable roles in other notable projects ranging from Seinfeld, King of the Hill, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Halt and Catch Fire, to Halloween, Beavis and Butthead, Blonde and Maxxxine. He’s shown his paintings at galleries in Los Angeles for the last 20 years. His most recent solo painting show was in 2022. His next is slated for 2025.
Harper Steele is an Iowa City native and a graduate of the University of Iowa. She is an Emmy- winning veteran comedy writer and producer, most known for her thirteen years with Saturday Night Live where she eventually became the head writer. After leaving Saturday Night Live, Steele took over as Creative Director of the comedy website Funny or Die, started by her friends Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. While at Funny or Die, Steele wrote the films, Casa De Mi Padre, Deadly Adoption, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Most recently, Steele was the subject of the new Netflix documentary Will & Harper, which chronicles her evolving relationship with longtime collaborator and friend Will Ferrell. The documentary centers around a road trip the two friends take across America for the first time since Harper’s transition, and nearly thirty years after they first met on the set of SNL. Will & Harper premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and debuted September 27 on Netflix.
