GAYLETTER

“What do gay people do when they’re not having sex?”

On the Domestic Front: Scenes from Everyday Queer Life answers that age-old question. Opening August 14th at the Leslie-Lohman Museum, this collection of prints, paintings, and photographs explores both the uniqueness and universality of everyday queer life. Split into four distinct parts, Home, Work, Play, and Fantasy, the exhibit chronicles the shifting landscape of the LGBTQI movement. “The queer fight has shifted from our right to be different toward the right to be “normal” and unremarkable.  Queer genre imagery is a weapon in our battle to secure what we might call the radicality of the ordinary.”

The selection of work comes from the Museum’s private collection, offering an opportunity to see work that has, in some cases, never been displayed publicly. Some of the featured artists include Saul Bolasni, Joan E. Biren, Del LaGrace Volcano, and Caleb Cole. It might just sound like photos of queer people doing regular things, but 3 critical questions revamp the imagery: “Do we perform these activities in distinctive “queer” style(s)? Do we represent them artistically in a distinctive way? And, do we look at such images differently?” From the age-old to the hyper-relevant, this exhibit has answers for everyone.

Below is a preview of the show — All images courtesy of Leslie+Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art:

FREE, Opening Reception 6:00-8:00PM, Leslie + Lohman Museum, 26 Wooster St. …

We’ve all got our own queer fantasies. Surprisingly enough, not all of them are about TD Bank flying the rainbow flag. OHWOW Gallery’s current exhibition, Queer Fantasies, explores the voices and histories that deviate from these increasingly normative and commodified discourses. It opened on July 11th and it goes down this week, on August 15th. But if you’re hoping for ‘alternative fetish,’ you’re missing the point. “The artist in the exhibition come from different backgrounds and do not all depict explicitly gay subject matter in their work; they explore various existing histories through queer representation.”

Curated by critic and art historian Willam J. Simmons, the exhibit challenges stereotypical depictions of “the queer lifestyle” through a range of media from installations, to sculpture, to painting, film and photography. The group of artists spans across generation, gender, and background, coming together to create “a critical tool for the reformulation of normative art histories.” Hmm… sounds dense. Essentially, there’s some intellectual art happening here that’s finally telling stories that aren’t about upper-middle-class white people and the AIDS crisis. Lean in, there’s a lot to hear. So, if you are in LA, you still have a few days to check it out.

11:00AM-6:00PM, OHWOW Gallery, 937 N. Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. …

I can’t help but remember my shaking hand inching into my best friend’s sleeping bag, advancing with terror and ecstasy. Matt Lambert’s most recent “autobiographical archive,” KEIM, stands on that threshold that separates man and boy, firmly grounded in the contradictions that define “coming of age.” It is soft and hard, confident and self-conscious. Although entirely white, his collection of Berlin boys herein feels quintessentially real; Lambert captures an intimacy that strikes at the trembling heart of exploration, vulnerability, and sex. “It’s sex as a way to kill the boredom, the pain, the angst, the good times and the bad. It’s the normalisation of sex; normcore as opposed to hardcore. It’s the daily, repetitive ritualisation aided by the app or laptop where Grindr or camboys take you into an anonymous, anodyne, often synthetic world.”

The book contains a zine within the larger narrative, VITIUM CONTRA NATURAM, a momentary departure into the dark, insatiable hunger that boils beneath Lambert’s lighter images. Imagine “Wild child” inscribed on the head of a hard dick. There’s literally a picture of that. The book itself feels curious, pulling you in and pushing you back, teasing your limits. “Keim is a special kind of secret. It’s a book wrapped in whispers, gossip, innuendo, rumor, myth, mystique, mystery.”

We had the pleasure of asking Lambert a couple of questions about his process. Check it out:

How long have you been working on this book? How did it begin? …

Well, at least we’re consistent. Tom of Finland is back. And he’s in your bedroom. A line of limited-edition pillows, crafted by Swedish luxury designer, Henzel Studio, pays homage to the artist we know and love. “The collection is ultimately a testament to both the revolutionary vision of Tom of Finland and the extraordinary craftsmanship of Henzel Studio, which has miraculously captured the artist’s mastery of line, form, and shadow.” The pillows come in three designs, each double sided with unique collages of original TOF work.

A slew of prominent contemporary artists including Jack Pierson, AVAF, Scott Campbell, Robert Knoke, Nan Goldin, Richard Phillips, Anselm Reyle, and Juergen Teller have contributed to the project, allowing Henzel to transform selected works of theirs into similarly lux pillows. At first, I questioned the artists’ decisions to sell their artwork in the name of leisure, but, after actually seeing and feeling the pillows, it’s obvious that these are not your average Throws. The cotton/polly blend is soft and durable, piping along the outer edge ensures no tearing, and, most importantly, the shape and size of the pillows frame the beautifully printed images perfectly. I have one on my bed right now and she looks f*cking fantastic.

Find yours here. …

OK, this guy Burk Uzzle has a crazy amazing eye. His hot show now at Stephen Kasher gallery titled American Puzzles is sublime. The exhibition, up until July 31st, features over 70 vintage black and white photographs of the American social landscape from the 1960’s through the 2000’s. Do you know the brilliant work of American photographer Robert Frank? He took the photographs in the classic book ‘The Americans’ dealing with similar subject matter, well Burk, in my humble, yet professional photographer, opinion blows Frank’s work out of the water. As Burk notes, “These photographs are an appreciation of America. Their structure, like that of America itself evokes a melody of movement and collage — not an explanation.” I love that.

He started taking photographs at age 14 and by 23 became the youngest photographer ever to be hired by Life Magazine. Yes, he has work hanging at the Met, MoMA, and all over the world for that matter, but now you have the opportunity to see his work in Chelsea for free.

All images below courtesy of Steven Kasher Gallery, NYC:

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I know, I KNOW, please no more Tom of Finland but I had to let you know about this exemplary talk going down at Artists Space this Thursday, July 16, at 7:00PM. It’s ironically titled “Drawing in a Straight Line” and will consider Tom of Finland’s influence upon and reception by artists as preeminent post-War gay icon. The moderator Bob Nickas will be joined by New York artists Collier Schorr, Nayland Blake and Carlos Motta — what a crowd. This cutting group of artists are so talented with divergent and overlapping socio-political elements to their work I imagine the chat will be quite deep and explosive. I never suggest this, but if you have a minute Google their names, space is limited.

“As queer art practice has been deconstructed through lines of multiplicity and intersectionality, so have historical understandings of power and deviation from dominant power, been complexified. For this reason the relationship between Tom of Finland’s work and contemporary artist’s practice remains important” Ok, now take a deep breath , I’m sure if you attend the talk that will make perfect sense to you by the end, let’s hope so, if not then just cruise your heart out!
$5 donation, members free, 7:00PM, Artist Space Books and Talks, 55 Walker St. NY, NY. …

OK, these images famed book publisher Taschen just sent me by the legendary artist George Quaintance worked my last nerve. I know, I’ve been wearing that expression out (especially all over Fire Island of late) but when it fits, it fits. I am wholly embarrassed to say that I knew nothing of this artist until about twenty minutes ago. George was a true trailblazer making erotic blatantly homosexual themed works in the forties and early fifties. “George Quaintance lived and worked during an era when homosexuality was repressed, when his joyful paintings and physique photos could not depict a penis. In an era before Stonewall, the sexual revolution, gay rights and the AIDS crisis, Quaintance and his high camp erotic art existed in a demi-monde of borderline legality.”

I mean this George had balls, literally and figuratively, creating this hot and horny kind of imagery way back in the day. His show titled “The Flamboyant Life and Forbidden Art of George Quaintance“ opening July 3, at the TASCHEN gallery in LA is, if you can believe it, the first public show of his works-ever! He only made 55 oil paintings in his lifetime that spanned the years 1902-1957 and until recently were only traded amongst a very private select few. In addition to George’s work the show is rounded out with pieces by Tom of Finland , who George greatly influenced, as well as photographs by Bob Mizer. I almost need to get on a plane to see the works in person but as it’s the 4th of July and the show comes down the end of August I’m gonna stay on the east coast and try my best to get laid! …

Trust me, you need to know about the work of Tseng Kwong Chi. I’ll apologize up front for not inviting you to the opening of his exhibition, but hey, I didn’t know about it either. The Grey Art Gallery at NYU is hosting the first major museum retrospective of Tseng’s work: Performing For The Camera until July 11th. Sadly, Tseng died at the age of 39 from AIDS-related complications but not before he left a prolific, diverse and ground-breaking body of work. There are fascinating Polaroid photo montages, celebrity portraits of Basquiat, Warhol and Tseng’s intimate friend Keith Haring as well as 12 works from his classic series of selfies (before they were ever on the map) titled East Meets West, that evolved into the Expeditionary series and more. In many of these series Tseng chose to wear the somewhat drab, yet classic, Communist Mao suit with an ID attached to his jacket. He photographed parties as diverse as the Met Ball, and Republican political events and his work is included in the Met’s current exhibition “China Through The Looking Glass,” on view through August 16th.

I was not prepared to process how diverse and unquestionably visionary Tseng was — a revolutionary, fearlessly entering social, artistic and political environments (with a camera) the Chinese never gained access to prior. “In exaggerating his difference into an exotic mystique, Tseng found a way to infiltrate spaces typically closed to Asians and other minority groups.” Take some sun in Washington Square Park, sip a beer in a brown paper bag, cruise hot and horny NYU boys looking for guidance then check out the show. …

When I saw my first Tom of Finland image as a small, curious, yet closeted gay teen I was utterly flabbergasted. Never before had I seen such a bold and titillating expression of male sexuality that I think subconsciously influenced my taste in men. Born Touko Laaksonen in Finland in 1920 Tom of Finland I am told is considered to be the most iconic gay artist of the 20th century. Artists Space is having an opening for their new exhibition of Tom’s work with more than 180 drawings from the 1940’s and over 300 pages of collages and early childhood works. By now I’m sure you’ve seen one or two of his masterfully executed drawings with the focus on cock, cock, and more cock. “His emblematic larger-than-life drawn phalluses not only threaten the existing symbolic order of heterosexuality, but also reorganize the principles by which (homo-) sexual desires are structured.” Oh, ok, I just thought they made gay men hot. Of interesting note, Tom had his first gallery exhibition in New York, facilitated by the help of his friend Mr. Robert Mapplethorpe who he met in 1978 in San Francisco (that must have been an interesting evening). Please tell me you’re in town this weekend and your half share on Fire Island hasn’t started yet. I would love to see you at the opening to have a few beers and possibly sleep together. Mossy’s back!

FREE, 6:00-8:00PM, Artists Space, 38 Greene St. 3rd floor, NY, NY. …