Having come across a trove of discarded small and faded color snapshots of a group of gay bikers from the 1970s, New York gallerist Scott Zieher decided to put them on white matting, recess them in simple white frames and show them as documents and reminders of a time when unadulterated good times and comradeship were live possibilities for a subculture that was still underground and innocent of impending tragedy. Mainly informal group portraits taken at camping outings in the countryside, the anonymous photos show us that these boys, garbed in denim and leather, just wanted to have spirited fun and hang out—there is no hint of raucous licentiousness and even less of menacing macho. Intentionally or not, the sizable “band of bikers” here appropriated and subverted a myth for their own purposes, and in doing so, successfully proved that symbols can be deployed for almost any purpose that we desire. (Michael Weinstein)
Through July 2 at Western Exhibitions, 119 North Peoria
RECOMMENDED
