SPC brings GLBT historical photo exhibit to area in June
May 1st, 2008
National photo exhibit honors Modesto native and gay culture
Fellow Travelers: Liberation Portaits by Mark Thompson, opens June 1st at Deva Café in downtown Modesto. The exhibit, on a national tour, includes 14 large-format black and white, historic portraits of gay liberation pioneers. The exhibit is sponsored by the Stanislaus PRIDE Center and is part of the local celebration of gay pride month. Modesto Art Museum is providing curatorial advice for the exhibit. The opening celebration is Friday, June 6th, 7:00 p.m.
Portraits in the exhibit include religious leaders Malcolm Boyd, Ram Dass, and Harry Hay; controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe; and influential sexologist Joseph Kramer. Men who have two things in common: their enormous contributions to civil rights for gay people, and the powerful effect their lives and friendships have had on photographer and author Mark Thompson. The former editor of The Advocate calls this exhibit Fellow Travelers, or a collection of images of “like-minded companions.”
“[These are] brave brothers who are building a community, moving forward together,” Thompson said in an interview with White Crane, the gay men’s cultural and historical organization sponsoring the exhibit’s tour. “It is also a sly reference to the use of the phrase during the early days of the Cold War when people who were accused of being communist sympathizers were dubbed “fellow travelers.” It was a coded word used pejoratively, so I wanted to redeem that and give it a more positive application for today.”
The exhibit includes Modesto native James Broughton. Broughton was born in Modesto in 1912 and developed an international reputation for his poetry and films. He is remembered for being the father of the West Coast avant-garde film movement and for being part of the literary movement of the Beat Generation. He made more than 20 films, winning an award at Cannes for The Pleasure Garden and in 1989 earned a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.
Referring to the Broughton portrait, Thompson says. “I was this timid gay boy volunteering at a gay film festival,” recounting the day he first met the poet. “After his performance, there was a reception. He saw me and walked through the crowd towards me, and they parted like the Red Sea. He took my face, kissed me on the cheek and said, “Don’t worry, everything will be alright.’ It was a transferal of spirit from an older gay man to another.”
The exhibit’s national tour started in San Francisco last year. Before coming to Modesto, it made stops in Los Angeles, New York, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, and Portland.
Fellow Travelers: Liberation Portraits by Mark Thompson
June 1st - 28th, 2008 at Deva Cafe, 1206 J Street, Modesto, CA
Monday - Sunday, 8:oo a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Opening reception: Friday, June 6, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Media quotes about the exhibit:
“Fellow Travelers is the manifestation of a masterful collaboration between photographer Mark Thompson and writer Mark Thompson. With uncommon sensitivity, he manages to capture the heart and soul of 14 extraordinary men who redefine what it is to be beautiful. The pictures in tandem with the text achieve an intimacy and vibrancy that is electric–at once graceful, insightful, political and lyrical.” — Michael Kearns, actor-playwright-activist
“Even the briefest glimpse of these pictures is worth the bother. The show is dedicated to the exploration of gay male spiritual consciousness.” — David Lamble, Bay Area Reporter
“Author, journalist, therapist Mark Thompson has spent more than 30 years articulating the ineffable. As an artist, he waits for that one ‘perfect’ moment to capture the interior of the gay soul.” – Karen Ocamb, IN Los Angeles Magazine
Category: SPC Announcements

