Contributor Jordy Jones Curates New Exhibit

Self-Organizing Men contributor Jordy Jones has curated a new queer photographic history exhibit in San Francisco.

Queer History meets Deep Dish in New Photo Exhibit: “San Francisco…According to RINK”

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 2nd 6:00 pm
LGBT Center, 1800 Market
3rd Floor Lobby and Galleries
San Francisco, California
Q-Ball to follow at 7:00 pm

Rink Foto has been documenting Queer San Francisco for almost four decades. If it happened here, he was there. But Rink is more than a photographer. Exhibitions that have shown his images by themselves have missed half the story. His stories, each one more outrageous than the last, are the other half. Some say Rink is a social commentator. Others consider him a notorious gossip. The truth may lie between. Rink makes history juicy.

As part of the Queer Cultural Center’s 10th Anniversary National Queer Arts Festival season, curators Greg Day and Jordy Jones have taken Rink Foto’s photographs and stories together and mounted an unusual and provocative exhibition. The images and the words, taken as a whole, tell stories that neither alone could. A tipsy Harvey Milk tries to pull a hesitant young man into his Castro Street apartment. Male prostitutes dance around a golden calf in a Berkeley bordello.

Divine visits the City in 1978, and, “according to Rink…

(quote) “At the ‘No on 6’ party, they brought a cake out and she threw it at everybody. She tongue-licked Harvey Milk’s dog. She had a shopping cart with sausages and she sat down on one of them. Then she said ‘I killed Sharon Tate.’ Everyone screamed. Then she yelled ‘I eat sugar!’ Everyone screamed even louder. And then she said ‘I eat hamburgers.’ And the whole place went nuts. And people had sex in the audience while Divine was onstage. She was screaming at the audience. And she tried to molest my friend backstage. And then they took her to the baths. And they said ‘There’s a fan here.’ And they had this boy for her. The most terrified boy in the history of the City. This boy was on a cot. And all of a sudden Divine fills the doorway. And he ran away. He was one of the stars of this escort service. He ran out of town and they couldn’t find him. And they said ‘Oh, he doesn’t feel well.’ But I was smart enough to NEVER let Divine get between me and a doorway!” (unquote)

Come see the pictures and read the stories. Will Rink fill in the blanks? If you ask him nice, he just might. Come for the photo reception, stay for the Q-Ball afterwards. It’s all free and it’s all happening this Saturday, 6pm at the LGBT Center at 1800 Market in San Francisco.

Congratulations Jordy!