JO ANN BLOCK
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Recuperating the Historic: Queer Life before Stonewall

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RECUPERATING THE HISTORIC: QUEER LIFE BEFORE STONEWALL, installation view VCFA, 2009

This sculptural installation work is an homage to the butch women who paved the way for queer women to live more freely in subsequent generations.  WWII was a turning point for homosexuals, as they were then called.  Along with others, homosexuals were drafted into the war effort during WWII.   It was during furloughs while stateside that many homosexuals were able to meet for the first time and socialize with others like themselves in the gay bars that began to emerge in greater numbers in port towns. This was a first chance for many to discover they weren’t alone, to express their true selves in a space where they needn’t hide their secret in shame.  
This historical moment heralded the beginning of the gay bar scene. For many lesbians, gender role playing was de rigor.  Butch women dressed like men.  In doing so, they were declaring themselves as capable of competing for the attention and affection of feminine women.  But outside the bars these butch women had to survive in a hostile world that did not look kindly on their gender expression. 
“Recuperating the Historic” imagines what courage it took for a butch woman to do something as common as getting a haircut in a barbershop.   The larger-than-life butch is heroic in this piece. She is seated in the barber’s chair figured as a throne held up by the three (butch) graces. The two flanking collages on either side represent aspects of a typical butch’s life at the time. A Day in the Life, depicts the butch’s limited career choices other than manual labor, despite the fact that she may have had a college education. A Night in the Life, takes place in a gay bar relaxing with friends and lovers along with a cast of characters.
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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