Photo by: Angel Origgi.
Bernard Brown, Sissies: Something Perfect Between Ourselves (Orgiastic Expression), 2024. Performance still. Courtesy of: Bernard Brown/bbmoves and Angel Origgi Photography.
Photo by: Lalo Bersa.
DeFacto x in Glittermakeup.
Photo by: Angel Origgi.
Bernard Brown, Sissies: Something Perfect Between Ourselves (Trio with Disco Ball), 2024. Performance still. Courtesy of: Bernard Brown/bbmoves and Angel Origgi Photography.
Pieter
Fund: $45,000
Pieter will present Sissies: Something Perfect between Ourselves, an exhibition by, for, and about Black, Brown, and Indigenous Queer artists who have created spaces that feed the music, dance, fashion, and creative heartbeat of underground queer LA. Rooted in the African proverb “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero,” this project explores a range of artistic modes—dance/performance, film/photography, fashion, and music—mediums that document Black, Brown, and Queer stories as something integral to humanity. This show focuses on Black Gay bars and clubs—sites of leisure and pleasure—and gathering places for support and political action, especially at the onset of the gay liberation movement and the onslaught of HIV/AIDS, with Queer people of color dipping and kiki-ing through disco, R&B, techno, and house, highlight the “lost generation” of souls whose gifts and talents continue to change our world. This show, produced and co-curated by Pieter and choreographer Bernard Brown, will honor the legacy of LA’s Black Queer parties and clubs, which have served as a home for activism, joy, and care across decades. As many of these spaces have closed and disappeared, there is a deep need to document history and build sites for expression and community.
Awardees
