Friend of this site George Wong passed away the morning of June 6, 2011. George was a long-time officer with Avatar Los Angeles and a Gay Games gold medalist in volleyball. He will be missed. For the Leatherati obituary, click here.
Tag Archives: Kink
Rest in Peace. Rest in Power. George Wong
Posted in Leather, Los Angeles, Men, Obituary, Subcultures, volleyball
Tagged Avatar, Culture, Gay, George Wong, Kink, Leather, Los Angeles, Obituary, R.I.P., Volleyball
Eric Robinson’s “Leathermen” at QIY: Queer It Yourself – Big Gay Art Show
Eric Robinson and "Leathermen" at Las Manos Gallery in Chicago
Eric Robinson’s wet-plate ambrotypes will be showing as part of QIY: Queer It Yourself, which opens Saturday at SOMArts. The exhibit presents alternative, queer, do-it-yourself processes and projects, collaborations, zines, posters, green architecture, activist interventions and recuperations of low-tech media. Robinson took his 19th century kit (big awkard camera, portable darkroom, an array of chemicals, beakers and trays…) to the Dore “Up Your Alley” Fair in 2010, supplementing a series of portraits of Leathermen that he began the previous year. Images from that series will be on exhibit. More on Robinson here, here, here and here.
Robinson at work making wet-plate ambrotypes. These one-of-a-kind photographs on glass were common during the mid 19th century. As it disappears into the digital realm, this work reminds us of the physical, chemical and optical origins of photography. At the same time, generic conventions suggest that “fetish” photography should be slick and polished, suitable for publication in magazines, and “straight” in the photographic sense. These images kick that cliche, their hand-hewn aesthetic underscoring the sense that we are looking into not only the history of photography, but that of Leather. Old Guard all around…QIY is part of the National Queer Arts Festival. This year’s theme is A Sustainable Queer Planet. More on the festival here and more soon. QIY opens Saturday, June 4th with a reception from 1pm until 4pm. SOMArts is located at 934 Brannan at 8th St. in San Francisco. The gallery is tucked under the freeway, just to the east of the Trader Joe’s complex.
Posted in Art and Artists, Beards, Collecting, DIY and Maker Culture, Eric Robinson, Facial hair, Leather, Men, Photography, San Francisco, Southern Illinois, Subcultures
Tagged 19th century, Ambrotype, Art, BDSM, Culture, Dore Alley, Eric Robinson, Gay, Kink, Leather, Leathermen, LGBT, Old Guard, Photography, QIY, Queer Arts Festival, Queer It Yourself, San Francisco, Sexy, SOMA, Somarts, Up Your Alley Fair
Happy 271st Birthday to the Marquis de Sade!
Thanks to friend of this site Mike Caffee for alerting us to this! Mike, who is the artist who created the famous Febe’s “Leather David” icon, informs us that way back in the day, his Old Guard circles threw elaborate, very kinky parties in commemoration of the birthday of the original polymorphous pervert.
A Place to hang your…what?
The Green Man sprouts wood in an urban setting. This phallic tree provides a good impromptu paddle hook. You never know when or where you might need such a thing. This tree grows outside Rocco’s Cafe on Folsom Street between 8th and 9th in San Francisco. Highly recommended. The cafe and the tree.
Posted in Food, Gardening, Photography, San Francisco, Street Art, Grafitti, etc., Subcultures
Tagged cafe, Food, Green Man, Kink, Phallic, Photography, Rocco's, tree
Catalan Nativity Little Shitter ‘El Caganer’ as Mascot for May 21 Rapture Movement?
Coincidence?
The squatting man in the May 21st Rapture posters looks suspiciously like el caganer, the little squatting shitting paisano, which is Catalan’s famous nativity figure. Connection? Coincidence? This billboard is in San Francisco, hanging on the side of the building that also houses The Lone Star…
Posted in Photography, Signage, Spirituality, Subcultures
Tagged billboard, Brown Hanky, Caganer, Catalan, Culture, Kink, May 21, Nativity, Photography, Rapture, Religious Fanaticism, San Francisco, Satire, Signage, Spirituality, The Lone Star
San Juan Bautista One-Room Jail…Cozy!
These old one-room jail cells are common in the American West. It seems that every mission town and stagecoach stop had one. Some had fold-down plank beds, others had bunks. This one features a metal cot with attached shackles. No night-time escapees! Most had a jug for washing and a hole for a toilet. Sometimes, a chair. Luxury lifestyle living! The San Juan jail was built in 1870.
Masculine Gay Pop Culture Doc Jack Fritscher
Jack Fritscher, Ph.D
Lots of Docs in the world of Leather. At least it seems that way. Medical doctors, but especially Ph.Ds. Jack Fritscher is a “specialist in American Literature, Creative Writing, Criticism, and American Pop Culture, including the History of Masculine-Identified Gay Pop Culture.” No mere academic, Dr. Fritscher has published non-fiction, fiction, erotica and is also an accomplished photographer. Among his many books are Mapplethorpe: Assault with a Deadly Camera and Some Dance to Remember. Find out more about him at his website, here.
Posted in Leather, Men, Photography, Scholarship, Subcultures
Tagged Academic, Art, Author, BDSM, Culture, Gay, Jack Fritscher, Kink, Leather, Masculine, Photography, Pop, Robert Mapplethorpe, Scholar
Hung like a…
Hector Silva
New sexy monster from Los Angeles based artist Hector Silva. More about him and his homeboy art here.
Posted in Collecting, Facial hair, Hector Silva, Men
Tagged Art, Centaur, Culture, Gay, Hector Silva, Homeboy, Kink, Sexy
New Yaoi Bara Manga style NSFW Gay Priest Comic Art from JoJo Mendoco
Bless Me Father - JoJo Mendoco 2011
“Dressed like a priest you was. Tod Browning’s freak you was…” Bless me Father. Inspired by a story in Juice: True homosexual experiences from S.T.H. writers Volume 5. From the Gay Sunshine series edited by Boyd McDonald. This series from the 1980s featured true stories and reader photos. Other provocative titles included Meat, Cum, Flesh and Sex. Gay reality one-handed reading. Good stuff. More about S.T.H. later…and plenty of JoJo Mendoco, including Top o’ the Morningwood, Ouch!, SirYesSir, XV.1, Fukya!, and I Want You To…
Posted in Collecting, Comics, History, JoJo Mendoco, Men, Spirituality
Tagged Art, Bara, Boyd McDonald, Catholic, Comics, Culture, Gai Comi, Gay, Gay Sunshine Press, Guilt, Jesus, JoJo Mendoco, Juice, Kink, Manga, Priest, Sexy, Spirituality, STH, Yaoi
The end of the San Francisco Eagle…or is it? Pics and rumors.
The San Francisco Eagle Tavern closed its doors this last weekend. Rumors that it would stay open another month proved unfounded. Is this the end of The Eagle? Self-styled San Francisco “Master of Real Estate” Seth Munter thinks it isn’t. He writes on Facebook: “The Eagle will rise again. John and Joe have no choice but to make sure the Eagle re-opens. They can and they will. Why? Because they cannot AFFORD to do anything else but see that the Eagle reopens. Otherwise, they will lose The Hole In The Wall…” Interesting political logic. For the entire post, click here. For pictures of condos that have been proposed for the site, click here. For a list of all the gay Leather bars called The Eagle, here.
Posted in History, Leather, San Francisco, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Subcultures
Tagged Culture, Gay, History, Kink, Leather, San Francisco, SF Eagle, SOMA, Tavern
The Gay Highwaymen 