JO ANN BLOCK
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HILL DISTRICT

PicturePearl, 32” X 44” oil, 2008




The Hill District portraits of African American drag queens are painted from photographs that were taken in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, PA during its heyday. From the 1930s – 1950s the Hill District was one of the most influential black neighborhoods in America. At this present time, when gays and lesbians are assimilated into mainstream culture, it is important to preserve our history by examining homosexuals as they emerged in particular cultural spaces in the pre-Stonewall era. This pre-political period is notable for the ways in which gays and lesbians formed lives and lived out their desires while circumventing the law, and contending with the punishing, shaming mores of their day.  I am most interested in this underground gay life that prevailed not that long ago, a time that is a part of my own personal history.
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Ruby 39” X 39” oil, 2008
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Ethylene 39” X 33” oil, 2008
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Ethylene, invert, 39” X 33” oil, 2008

Weeegee

The photographer Weegee’s camera was the eye of the night; with his eerily accurate timing and nocturnal hours, he provided the curious with a porthole to Manhattan’s midnight world. Weegee’s photos of crime scenes, car-wreck victims in pools of their own blood, overcrowded urban beaches and various grotesques are still shocking.
The two color paintings were appropriated from the photographer Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee, whose photos in the 1930s and 40s included documenting the outlaw lives of homosexuals. The two paint­ings are contrasted by the difference in circumstances. “Two Girls at the Bar” conveys candidly how at home and comfortable the girls seem to be in their surroundings. Opposite that scene are the cowering men in a paddy wagon. True to form, the “Gay Deceiver” poses dramatically and defiantly for the camera. It was a criminal offense to be found same-sex dancing or having the appearance of a homosexual. Those arrested were charged as deviants.

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Two Girls in a Bar 30” X 40” oil, 2008
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Gay Deceiver 24” X 30” oil, plastic mesh, 2008
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UPCOMING SOLO EXHIBITION:

THE MEANING OF LIFE: SELF PORTRAIT

643 Project Space 
643 N Ventura Avenue
Ventura, CA 93001
www.643projectspace.com

FEBRUARY 3-28, 2023
Opening Event:  February 3, 2023 6pm-9pm
Closing Event:       February 24, 2023 6pm-9pm



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  • HOME
  • COLLAGE / PAINTING
    • PHENOMENA OF THE FIERCE
    • QUEER BEFORE QUEER
    • FALLEN WOMEN
    • Jane Doesn't Need Dick: Origin of Love
    • SUPER DYKES
    • Historical Models of Cultural and/or Biological Performative Identities
    • HILL DISTRICT
    • EARLY COLLAGE
  • SCULPTURE / INSTALLATION
    • The Meaning of Life: Self Portrait
    • Origin of the Odd
    • SEX OBJECTS
    • I Am Surfacing
    • The Bachmann Overdrive Reparative Conversion-a-tor
    • Creatures
    • RECUPERATING THE HISTORIC: QUEER LIFE BEFORE STONEWALL
  • NEWS
  • ABOUT
  • Contact