Who can possibly resist the glamour, extravagance & strange allure of  drag queens!? After seeing these images from Gilles Larrain’s 1973 book, Idols, documenting the 1970s New York transvestite scene, I am dying to get my hands on the 2011 version, which includes even more selections from his archives. Also dying to have some raging dress-up parties and dive headfirst into some eyelash glue and glitter. Gilles’ portraits of the scene’s stars, including some of the infamous San Francisco Cockettes, are outrageous, slightly sentimental, and fabulous documentation of a ravenously experimental moment in time and identity.

There’s a great interview of Gilles by Ryan McGinley in Vice from two years ago in which Gilles explains the process of making the images, which adds another oddly romantic dimension to the portraits:

“It was a mixture of so many things. There was no formula; it was pure improvisation. We had lot of junk lying around and they came by in groups of 20 or 30, and they all shared things, having fun with makeup, playing with wigs and whatever. There was no direction. There was no intent to be specifically fashiony. It was purelydivertissement, in the French sense—to have fun, create fun, and live fun. To enjoy the moment. Louis XV was great at that. Crazy parties in Versailles. Food, sex, everything. It was then that fashion began to move and be created. The culture of fashion comes from that time…

There were no designers, no art director, no makeup people, no stylists, none of those things that define a fashion shoot. It was completely improvised.”

Images via Behance, see more of Gilles’ Idols and other works on his website.

I’ve been going to Reno for Passover with my family for the past four years. This year I took the Chinatown gambler’s special bus from Oakland with a bunch of old Chinese dudes through the mountains. My dad and stepmom came out from Chicago; it was the first Seder my dad and his sisters spent together in 40 years! I love the drawings in the old haggadahs, the cardboard-y schmurah matzah, the salt water, the singing, the hunt for the afikoman. I even enjoyed sitting at the kids table.

We drove up to Tahoe and around the lake, my first time there since I was a kid- WOW! It was so powerfully turquoise, that fresh feeling moment between winter and spring. Just enough snow, but probably the end of it.

Passover is all about FREEDOM, it feels good. As my dad cleverly noted, “Everyone has their own personal Egypt.”

Lots going on this weekend in the SF art world- hope to see you out and about! Here’s the agenda:

FRIDAY:

I’ll be covering CCA’s Fashion Show for Modeconnect!

My bff Nico and friends are opening a “The Field as the Frame, the Raster as the Rake“ at Alter Space in SOMA!

Tom Marioni & Eleanor Antin speak at the Berkeley Art Musuem!

SATURDAY:

SFAI MFA Vernissage at the Phoenix Hotel!

Our girl, Taravat Talesapand, opening “Pathetique“ in the Project Room at Guerrero Gallery!

The Lab’s annual art auction (including work by my roommates, Jessalyn & Paul!)

Asian Contemporary Art Week opens in SF- the first large-scale exhibition of contemporary art organized by the Asian Art Museum!

SUNDAY: CHILL THE FUCK OUT!

I brought my copy of Blackstock’s Collections to tutoring today and my student got a kick out of Gregory’s drawings of collections of items- shoes, noisemakers, animals, hats, warplanes, etc. She also then read ALL the names of bees aloud. Gregory Blackstock is a Seattle-based artist, accordion player, singer, ex-potwasher and autistic savant. His ability to draw all of these things so immaculately, precisely, and from memory is absolutely incredible- AND he can draw them over and over and over again in the exact way. If you haven’t already, check out some of his drawings from Garde Rail Gallery, formerly in Seattle and now based in Austin. Thank you, Gregory, for showing us the capabilities of the MIND!!!

Diggin’ on Frank Hallam Day‘s photos of hand-painted signs of hair salons in rural Ethiopia. Day explains that these are part of a larger project exploring the Western influence on African ideals of beauty & self-image. But the images are also just a grand collection of work of amateur artists and sign painters in a particularly niche market…! I can only imagine the owners’ pride and excitement when mounting the sign outside on their first day of business!

Thanks to Me Forget for pointing me in Frank’s direction.

I’ve been saving these images forever, it’s time to release them into the world! Some favorite picks from some deep digs into the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Love this polka dot bracelet & snakes snakes snakes.

Thanks to Caitlin for modeling in the desert heat And muchas gracias to Emily & Jen, the lovelies over at The dD for making this extra special batch of bracelets exclusively for us. If you haven’t read it before, read the BIG THINGS AHEAD interview we did with them back in the fall and check out their blog for more of their shenanigans. They rule!

WOW last night’s NightLife Earth Day party at the California Academy of Sciences was such a blast! Thanks to everyone who came out to learn about composting, gardening, edible bugs, bug photography, and to see an ostrich dissected LIVE!

I was excited to see Yasmin and Ami’s mobile bike composting unit- the U.S. Compostal Service- which they biked all the way from Oakland! Yasmin made a yummy kale frittata, which participants ate from an eggshell, then crumbled the eggshell into the worm compost in the wooden bike panniers. That compost was then used to fertilize the garden in the trailer, which was growing kale…for more frittata! A whole cycle of life on a bike!

I shed a few tears while watching The First 70, a beautiful chronicle of how the park closures will effect the people of California. Becky Jaffe gave a great presentation about her experience as a bug photographer (the word for “praying mantis” in swahili is “Bruce Lee”! HA!). SCRAP had a fun craft table with people making jewelry from recycled materials. And the Center for Biological Diversity even gave away condoms to help promote awareness about the human population explosion and its effects on the planet.

Overall it was a great night with friends and animals. HAPPY EARTH DAY, EVERYONE! Thanks to Peter, Meg & Sarah at the Academy for inviting me on to do this. See you all at the next NightLife!

People still flock to special locations where the earth is rich in minerals and curative powers. These powers are often tied to religion, like the dirt from the Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico, a yearly pilgrimage site for thousands of Catholics filled with alters, candles, and the crutches of healed pilgrims. Other sites are said to be linked the supernatural, like the Chilca Lagoon in Peru, whose mud is said to be powered by UFOs! And places like the Burgas Lakes near the Black Sea in Bulgaria, are salty local hangouts for those looking to be cured.

Images via Enrique Castro-Mendívil, Antoni Georgiev, & David Teter.

Award-winning nature photographer, Ian Shive, will present his stunning portfolio of photos from his travels. Catch screenings of The First 70, the story of the 70 California parks slated to close this summer (which I wrote about last week!) and KQED’s film about the latest foodie trend, “Edible Insects.” Our friend & collaborator, Yasmin will be demo-ing a mobile bike-composting unit with The U.S. Compostal Service; we’ll be making crafts at SCRAP‘s repurposed art & craft table; learn about organic gardening and composting in the city with Garden for the Environment; and then get down and dirty on the dance floor with Rock It Science Laboratories….

As always, the bars will be fully stocked and the music will be bumpin’ along with the creatures of the night! Come celebrate this fine, fine planet and the people and projects who are looking after it. Get tickets here and help support the Academy’s mission to “explore, explain and protect the natural world.”

This event is going to be a great intersection of some of my favorite things: ART & SCIENCE! I have had so many wonderful moments exploring the Academy during the day and at NightLife events, it’s really a dream-come-true for me to be working with them on this. I got a lot of the inspiration for these ideas from last year’s Dirt Chronicles, where I wrote about various artists working with dirt as a medium. Dirt rules. Thanks to Meg, Peter & Sarah at the Academy for making this all happen! SEE YOU THERE!

Images via giglig, US Parks & SmartDestinations.