GAYLETTER

Come join us this week, starting this Thursday, September 20 at 6:00PM (for the preview) as we head to the Printed Matter‘s Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 —  We’ll be at Booth N27. The book fair is one of our favorite events of the year (Click here to see photos from the last year). Not only is it a wonderful chance to meet our readers, but we also like to sneak off from our booth, when if we get the chance, to go roam around the floors of the fair to see all the amazing printed matter available from other publishers and galleries from around the world.

There is an overload of incredible stuff to look at. In its 13th year the fair features 365 exhibitors. It is also the first fair since the death of it’s curator Shannon Michael Caine. It won’t be the same fair without him…On Sunday at 3:30PM we’re going to be talking on a panel about BUTT magazine — It’s the US premiere of the film ‘After BUTT’ by Ian Giles (Here’s the Facebook page with more details). Come to the Art Book Fair to support print and help us keep our publication alive by buying one, or ALL available issues, nothing wrong with owning the entire collection!

Thursday (preview night) 6:00PM-9:00PM, Friday 1:00PM-7:00PM, Saturday 11:00AM-9:00PM, Sunday 11:00AM-7:00PM. MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave. Long Island City, NY. …

Bushwig only happens once a year. Which totally sucks! What began as a backyard soirée of hours worth of drag-shows has ballooned into an internationally stamped festival showcasing the many modes of drag. New York — Brooklyn more specifically — where Bushwig began, has long hosted the careers of some of the drag industry’s best performers before fame grabbed them on Instagram, YouTube or RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Bushwig (which most recent offshoot was in Berlin) is organized by what has become a kind of drag-cooperative over the years. Spearheaded by Horrorchata and the many who work with and around her on a weekly basis, including Merrie Cherry, Tyler Ashley, Charlene, Hannah Lou, Untitled Queen, and Miss Malice — all of these performers (but honestly, legends) band together to book, organize, perform, emcee, and command the city’s biggest weekend for drag. (And this is a city that hosts RuPaul’s Drag Con.) The appearances at this year’s festival were no short of star-studded, with drag celebrities like Pearl, Hungry, Aja, Shea Couleé and Alaska taking to the stage on both nights.

This year, rain rolled through the festival’s early September weekend, but drag doesn’t stop for weather. Jason Leavy — who photographed the festival for us last year — decamped for Knockdown Center again to collect a series of portraits of the electric performers and twinkling attendees.

It should come as no surprise that among drag superstars and drag babies alike, there is beauty in every corner of the industrial festival grounds. …