Blog reader Michael Conboy was inspired by the tour and created a series of drawings of gay bars "by the dozen." Detroit was the first treatment, and a later treatment of LA gay bars and bath houses was part of a gallery show recently!
A Dozen Gay Bars, 2008
With the no-holds-barred frontier of the internet and an ever increasing acceptance by mainstream society, the neighborhood gay bar holds less importance every day. But with acceptance comes the loss of camaraderie that people sharing a common secret develop. And complete acceptance must not only be legislated, it must be believed. So, while the entertainment might be less fabulous, the crowds less “cutting edge” and the atmosphere less charged, these homely structures survive as safe spaces for a group still having doubts that it’s all okay out there. In presenting these places “by the dozen” I play off the very ordinariness of their exteriors which belies the importance they have as spaces sacred to a minority who thrive behind their walls.
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5 comments:
How can we get a copy?
go warrendale!
limited editions prints of this should be sold at some high-end meticulously-curated gay-friendly home decor/furnishings emporium in downtown detroit.
I wish I would have thought of this first. But I can't draw nor can I name a dozen gay bars beyond gold coast.
Sketches of "typical patrons" would have helped. Damn generic architecture!
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