Don’t go, Daddy!: Unseen Polaroids from the Down and Out Archive, 1978-1992

The Down and Out Archive allows a glimpse into the lives of suburban men before and during the AIDS pandemic through a collection of over 700 Polaroids taken sporadically from 1978-1992. The images, captured by an anonymous photographer and FF Master with a large partner base, depict primarily White, but also Black and Latino, men at play, poised in states of ultimate submission, and aging.

The archive, acquired by Sean Griffin in 2010, implies encounters that tell a story about anonymous queer men’s bodies in Los Angeles, primarily in the ’80s, a period deeply impacted by the AIDS crisis. In this panel discussion on the archive, Griffin is joined by Ron Athey and Reyah for a conversation that questions how queer people look at each other through time and reflects on generational loss—those missing granddaddies and great granddaddies—through the photos’ explicit, intimate portrayal of a time before and during the emergence of safe sex practices. The evening will offer a peephole view of a generation of gay men mostly known through activism, art, mourning, and the embracing culture that still resonates with queers today.

“Don’t go, Daddy!: Unseen Polaroids from the Down and Out Archive, 1978-1992” will take place at One Gallery on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, from 7-8:30 p.m.

This program may not be suitable for all ages.

Panelists

Sean Franz Griffin, PhD—Director of Opera Povera, composer, and queer artist—argues that the present relentlessly haunts the past, rather than the reverse. His critically acclaimed music and ecstatic stage works realize liberatory expressive practices often within the fraught phantasmagoria of the Cold War and contemporary manipulations of empathy. Photo by Opera Povera.

Reyah is a Los Angeles-based prolific autodidact and emerging artist. As both photographer and subject, he creates powerful, iconographic narratives exploring gender, childhood trauma, religion, and the Black Body. Photo by Reyah.

Ron Athey has been at the vanguard of performance art for 25 years. His uncompromising productions strip down and expose the shifting layers of identity politics, body art, sex acts, archetypes, and the AIDS pandemic. Through the polemics of blood, deconstructing memoir, and automatism, he confronts the body politic in visceral live performances. Photo by Opera Povera.

Ron Athey performing his piece “Acephalous Monster” at Performance Space New York.

This panel conversation is organized by Sean Franz Griffin as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2024, presented by One Institute.

One Gallery is an art gallery and cultural programming space operated by One Institute, the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in the country. Located in the heart of West Hollywood, One Gallery is dedicated to hosting archival and contemporary art installations that showcase LGBTQ+ history. Through partnerships with established and emerging community partners, the gallery also serves as a low-cost, multi-purpose space for community meetings, creative workshops, classes, and other mission-aligned programming.