The exhibit, titled “Matthew Leifheit: The Gay Archive,” will open in September and run until November 12th. This is the first time this work has been exhibited.
Near the beginning, a bright neon sign proclaiming “Photo Services” appears over a photo of an unlit, broken sign with the same phrase written on it. The sign pictured is the original Castro Camera Shop sign owned by Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.
Like many of the pieces in the exhibit, this sign breathes new life into the original while paying homage to its history.
Brooklyn-based photographer and professor Reifheit began visiting and photographing queer archives across the country in 2021, working on “gay archives.”
“In the 1970s and ’80s, independent archives were established by LGBTQ Americans to collect materials not collected by major institutions,” Reifheit said in a statement. “These materials, including photographs, letters, T-shirts, protest signs, and ephemera, document 20th century queer culture and identity in relation to the rise of the gay rights movement in the United States. More importantly, it contains evidence of the lives of many people who would have been lost to history for a variety of reasons, from homophobia to racial prejudice to sexism to AIDS. That’s it.”
These materials are carefully placed within Leifheit’s photographs. The Polaroid is overlaid with letters, funeral home bills, and even accessories. A photo printed on metal highlights the archives of Lorraine Hurdle, a Black queer woman who served in the U.S. Army during World War II. A photo of her at work is placed next to a book and perhaps a hurdle watch and glasses.
“Matt goes in and out of these archives, often organized by volunteers, so you end up at the bottom of the box and find things that no one has seen in decades or that have been lost in the archives. I often find things,” Rachel Stern said. He is an assistant professor of photography at Union University and curator of the exhibition. “He photographs them and retrieves them from the archives in photographic form.”
“Gift images” are displayed in the center of the exhibition. One features an image of Pedro Zamora, an HIV/AIDS activist who appeared on Season 3 of MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco and became a star on the show. He was one of the first men to openly say he had AIDS on a television show, drawing attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Another image highlights Judy Garland’s archives. This work, printed on newspaper, is about the concept of longevity. These are framed and displayed, but copies are also stacked on magazine racks and visitors are encouraged to pick them up.
“I love the idea of them becoming dorm room posters,” Stern said.
It’s a way to bring LGBTQ history closer to students, and it seems to have resonated with some. As Stern was installing the exhibit, a student looking for a break from orientation wandered into the gallery. The students told Stern that they were bisexual, but their families didn’t know that.
“They’re away from their families for the first few hours of college, lost in a strange space. And I really thought, ‘Wow, this person is so accepting and giving to them. This is probably the first time you’re going into a strange space.’ Those are the histories and contexts,” Stern said.
Other students participated in a video projection in a curtained section of the exhibit. It is a loop of 13 performances by a gay male chorus. All of this predates the availability of effective treatments for HIV/AIDS in the United States. The video and audio are distorted in places, reflecting the fractures within the queer community.
“Several students have told me that they cried after watching the Gay Chorus video,” Stern said.
“That was very moving to me. One of the things we’ve done is literally create a space where people can come and feel the community that’s also recorded in the archives that Matt works with. I think it’s about physically creating it. Participating in it and adding to it,” Stern said.
Stern hopes this exhibit is just the beginning of Leifheit’s “gay archives.”
“He was really generous and let us be the first place to eat at it. We hope this is one of many destinations,” Stern said.
Crowell Gallery and West Gallery are located in the Feigenbaum Visual Arts Center. For information or to take a virtual tour of the exhibit, visit union.edu.
Photo: “Matthew Leifheit: Gay Archive” at Union College.
Photo provided. An exhibition shot of “Matthew Leifheit: The Gay Archive” on display at Union College.
Michal Artazov
Photo provided. Matthew Leifheit, “Paul Fasana’s Desk,” Stonewall National Museum and Archives, 2021.
Photo provided. Pedro Zamora at the Capitol, November 1, 1993 (VHS recording). GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, 2024.
Photo provided. An exhibition shot of “Matthew Leifheit: The Gay Archive” on display at Union College’s Crowell Gallery and West Gallery.
Other life and art:
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