Drawing of the Leslie-Lohman Museum’s “Lockdown Loft”, 2020. Ink on paper.
L-L Virtual Pride Loft drawings
Commissioned by the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, June 2020
In 2020, The Leslie-Lohman Museum commissioned these drawings as part of the L-L Loft virtual pride website, built by PartySite, aka Sam Tercek and Liana Blum. Each page on the Loft site represents a different space within an imagined utopian NYC SoHo loft building. These webpages served as meeting spots for various pride related LGBTQ+ events and other queer art content in lieu of in person gatherings during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The idea of the Loft is based on the actual beginnings of the Leslie-Lohman Museum, as Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman were active in transforming Soho from a place of manufacturing into a community of artists in the 1960s. Leslie and Lohman began organizing exhibitions of gay art in their own SoHo loft in 1969, only a few months before the Stonewall Rebellion.
In response to this assignment, I drew from many image references from throughout queer and transgender history. These drawings often collapse moments in time, emphasizing the generations of ancestors we honor by participating in queer liberation movements and celebrations.
![Rooftop, Drawing of Women’s Athletic Club, 1920’s, Hopeful Hollywood starlets sunbathing on the rooftop of a building in Los Angeles by Bob Landry. [Other photographers unknown.] Ink on paper, 2020.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56723e24cbced6829d63a539/1605740045404-WNZG83CNS67L5DULWO2X/roof+composite+with+edges2.jpg)
Rooftop, Drawing of Women’s Athletic Club, 1920’s, Hopeful Hollywood starlets sunbathing on the rooftop of a building in Los Angeles by Bob Landry. [Other photographers unknown.] Ink on paper, 2020.
Drawing of Anthony Friedkin, Drag Queens at Mirror, Long Beach, 1971, 2020. Ink on paper.
Drawing of Leon Mostovoy’s photograph from the series Market Street Cinema, 1987-88. Ink on paper, 2020.
Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, referencing photos by Diana Davies and Leonard Fink. Ink on paper, 2020.
Drawing of a photograph by Leonard Fink at the West Street Piers in the 1960s or 70s, 2020. Ink on paper.
Drawing of photograph by Leonard Fink, SAY IT LOUD / SAY IT PROUD / WE ARE GAY / AND THAT’S ALLOWED, taken at Christopher Street Liberation Day, Central Park, June 1977. Ink on paper, 2020.
Drawing of Grey Villet’s feet dangling over 5th Avenue, 1954. Ink on paper, 2020.
Loft Drawing from a Photo from “Inside Today’s Home”, 2020. Ink on paper.
Drawing of Anthony Friedkin’s Couple in Front of Church, Los Angeles, 1970. Ink on paper, 2020.
Screenshot of the L-L Loft site.
