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Big Brothers at SPARC
July 27, 2019 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT
Join us on Saturday, July 27th from 5-7pm for “Big Brothers at SPARC,” an evening of poetry, music, and drinks in celebration of historic gay bars in Los Angeles! This event is inspired by our current gallery exhibition: Tomboys by Christina Schlesinger.
Tomboys features a vibrant collection of artworks that examine intersections between gender, identity, fashion, sex, and representation. The exhibition debuts a slideshow of photographs Schlesinger took in local gay and lesbian bars in the 1970s, including Big Brothers, a gay bar that was on West Washington, now Abbot Kinney, during the 70s. One such photo is the background image of our event flyer, and another one of her photographs from Big Brothers served as the inspiration for her piece Slow Dance, installed alongside the slideshow in our gallery space’s only remaining jail cell.
To celebrate Schlesinger’s work and the history that inspired it, we are bringing the spirit of LA’s historic gay bars into our gallery, where all are encouraged to come listen to poetry readings performed by womxn-identifying poets, enjoy music and drinks from our open beer-and wine bar, and learn more about the Tomboys exhibition by the artist herself!
The event is free and open to the public, though donations are greatly appreciated!