Artists hosted a panel at Dorothy, 2500 W. Chicago Ave., on April 20 to celebrate the debut of Images on Which to Build in Chicago, a snapshot of queer history from the '70s to the '90s.
The exhibition, now at Chicago Cultural Center, features photographs from artists such as Diana Solís, Joan E. Biren (JEB), Lola Flash, Morgan Gwenwald and Frank Franca—who also served as panelists at the event. It "presents a range of photographic practices that used the medium as a tool for collectivity and empowerment within interconnected lesbian, trans, and queer grassroots organizing," according to its official description. Before arriving in Chicago, the exhibition was featured in the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati followed by the Lesley Woman Museum in New York City.
Meeting in the dimly lit ambience of Dorothy, several of the featured artists sat for the discussion led by Ariel Goldberg, curator of the exhibition. The panelists discussed select images from the exhibition, including one that captures a line around the block from the opening of Loren Cameron's Body Alchemy in 1986.
"I feel like we're inside a version of this photograph today, so thank you all for being here," Goldberg opened, to a roar of cheers from the audience.
One of the photos included is "Flexing Our Muscles" by Solís. The photo, as the title suggests, is of women flexing their muscles. Solis took it when she lived in Lake View, at a time when she and her then-partner would host boisterous gatherings of women. It was originally printed on piezograph, a carbon-based form of printing black and white photos.
"The Dyke Show," a photo by JEB that's also in the exhibition, originated from JEB's wish to create a history of lesbian photographers, highlighting one specific photo that features Alice Austen, a New York street photographer. The photo shows Austen with friends, dressed in more traditional men's clothing and mustaches. It's a photo Austen referenced later in life, opining that "maybe we looked better as men than women," JEB recalled.
Flash took a moment to honor the inclusivity of JEB's work, something JEB said was a necessity to properly tell these stories through photography.
"I was part of a movement that was a radical revolutionary movement, and our politics were what later became called intersectional," JEB shared. "In other words, we grew out of the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. And we cared about the struggle against racism, against classism, against imperialism."
"It was me being part of a larger revolutionary movement that understood if I was going to talk about lesbians, I had to talk about lesbians across race and class," she added.
Activism through photography is a key theme of the exhibition, highlighting the social struggles queer people faced at the time, including the AIDS epidemic. That's something that differentiated the community then from today's, Flash said, as it was a time when people weren't focused on petty judgment, but on the bigger picture instead. Franca shared his own experience growing up in Miami, wishing there had been an exhibition like Images earlier.
"When you're an activist, especially with photography in general, a lot of the time you feel like you're alone. So when you have this kind of gathering, it's great to be reminded it's not just me fighting the world," Flash remarked, gesturing to the audience.
"So, since some of y'all seem kind of young out there, when you see some of us older dykes going by, say hello, thank us, ask us for help. We're here to be your encyclopedia," she added.
Keeping with that theme, Gwenwald noted that she's noticed an uptick of 20-somethings participating in the Lesbian Herstory Archives—which is celebrating its 50th anniversary—encouraging audience members not only to thank their elders, but to get involved. Even if someone's hesitant to live up to those who came before them, JEB encouraged attendants that they too can create change.
"I just want to encourage everybody, regardless of age, to know that you have the power to do things that can make this world better and different," JEB said.
