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Thursday, February 06, 2025
When the Lights Come On brings queer nightlife out of the dark
Visual Art | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: At first, I went to LGBTQ dance nights because the music was better. Not having to deal with meat market dudes, who mostly lurked at South Side clubs waiting to pounce on drunk women, was a bonus.
6 comments:
Ari K
said...
Queer spaces are incredibly important, especially now. They provide a place where people can be unapologetically queer, which is rare to find. I think queerness is often toned down in media, making it more presentable to a heteronormative audience. But queerness can be loud and sexual. This exhibit presents unfiltered queerness. By showing queer nightlife through the ages, it also says that we have always been here, and we will continue to persist even if the world tries to shut us out.
I think this article captures how many people feel when they do not want to go to a place that is uncomfortable for them. I think that a lot of queer places have given us a sense of comfort that we don’t experience every single time when people wanna go out I think a lot of times, especially now with how the government is trying not to have any queer or gender anything in public books and published articles this showcases how important it is in Pittsburgh itself and the whole country to have places that people are welcome, no matter where are they from what they believe in because it is essential that people are accepted and welcomed, and loved on, and I think we are nightlife is a perfect way to show it because it showcases that people will not get rid of queerness, even if they try hard.
I am so glad there are spaces for queer nightlife to flourish in Pittsburgh. Maybe I should check some of them out! Especially with all that is going on in White House at this very unfortunate time in history.. preserving and protecting and creating queer spaces is so important. I have heard people saying that resistance can just be living and experiencing queer joy. Existing in spite of people trying to erase you. This gives me a good idea. There should be queer libraries and archives that keep records of queer history so that it can't be erased by some unfortunate entity such as the government. I don't trust the government to keep that information safe, especially now, seeing as it can apparently be wiped away from the public eye. These clubs are very cool and I wonder how they are decorated, perhaps they put up pride flags everywhere and it a rainbow explosion inside. Sounds fun, would go.
I really really really want to go see this exhibit because I feel like the art exhibits that I have been to always seem to cater to a specific high society audience that tends to be more old school so to see an art exhibit for the queer community and especially queer nightlife which I would argue is a huge part of growing up queer and kind of speaks to the experimentation and freedom of expression that queer people go through. This exhibit just seems like such a cool idea and I feel like this article came at the perfect time because I have been wanting to delve into the art world a little bit more but the bigger more commercial exhibits just seemed a little bit more intimidating. Overall, this was a super cool and interesting article to read and one of these days, I will definitely be going to this exhibit.
Pittsburgh night life is something that I’m excited to experience for the first time. This city has so much life and energy to it and I’m sure that all that explodes at night in queer clubs and spaces. Growing up in NYC, a few blocks away from Stonewall, one of the most iconic gay bars in the nation, made me accustomed to the kind of nightlife that revolves around queer joy and inclusivity for everyone. Interweaving art into this is another great way to include queer people in more spaces actively and visibly to the world and community. Queer spaces are always needed so that people have places to go to feel safe and experience the joy of being comfortable in who you are. Art is one of my favorite ways to experience this, so this nightlife centered art installation is super inspiring to me and my own artistic journey.
This exhibition is really cool! Queer nightlife has always been more than just a party scene. It's so important to showcase all the different types of queer art, and especially how the art captures how clubs, bars, and underground spaces became places where people could be themselves, even when society wasn’t accepting them. The different paintings and installations make it feel so much more immersive rather than just some historical recap. Two of the biggest standout pieces, in my opinion, were the VHS installation, which had this way of preserving moments from queer nightlife history, and the other one was the flyer collage because it genuinely feels like a snapshot of real events that have built up a community over time. What makes this show work is how it balances nostalgia with the present. And it just showcases how these people and their culture will always matter regardless of what anyone tries to do.
6 comments:
Queer spaces are incredibly important, especially now. They provide a place where people can be unapologetically queer, which is rare to find. I think queerness is often toned down in media, making it more presentable to a heteronormative audience. But queerness can be loud and sexual. This exhibit presents unfiltered queerness. By showing queer nightlife through the ages, it also says that we have always been here, and we will continue to persist even if the world tries to shut us out.
I think this article captures how many people feel when they do not want to go to a place that is uncomfortable for them. I think that a lot of queer places have given us a sense of comfort that we don’t experience every single time when people wanna go out I think a lot of times, especially now with how the government is trying not to have any queer or gender anything in public books and published articles this showcases how important it is in Pittsburgh itself and the whole country to have places that people are welcome, no matter where are they from what they believe in because it is essential that people are accepted and welcomed, and loved on, and I think we are nightlife is a perfect way to show it because it showcases that people will not get rid of queerness, even if they try hard.
I am so glad there are spaces for queer nightlife to flourish in Pittsburgh. Maybe I should check some of them out! Especially with all that is going on in White House at this very unfortunate time in history.. preserving and protecting and creating queer spaces is so important. I have heard people saying that resistance can just be living and experiencing queer joy. Existing in spite of people trying to erase you. This gives me a good idea. There should be queer libraries and archives that keep records of queer history so that it can't be erased by some unfortunate entity such as the government. I don't trust the government to keep that information safe, especially now, seeing as it can apparently be wiped away from the public eye. These clubs are very cool and I wonder how they are decorated, perhaps they put up pride flags everywhere and it a rainbow explosion inside. Sounds fun, would go.
I really really really want to go see this exhibit because I feel like the art exhibits that I have been to always seem to cater to a specific high society audience that tends to be more old school so to see an art exhibit for the queer community and especially queer nightlife which I would argue is a huge part of growing up queer and kind of speaks to the experimentation and freedom of expression that queer people go through. This exhibit just seems like such a cool idea and I feel like this article came at the perfect time because I have been wanting to delve into the art world a little bit more but the bigger more commercial exhibits just seemed a little bit more intimidating. Overall, this was a super cool and interesting article to read and one of these days, I will definitely be going to this exhibit.
Pittsburgh night life is something that I’m excited to experience for the first time. This city has so much life and energy to it and I’m sure that all that explodes at night in queer clubs and spaces. Growing up in NYC, a few blocks away from Stonewall, one of the most iconic gay bars in the nation, made me accustomed to the kind of nightlife that revolves around queer joy and inclusivity for everyone. Interweaving art into this is another great way to include queer people in more spaces actively and visibly to the world and community. Queer spaces are always needed so that people have places to go to feel safe and experience the joy of being comfortable in who you are. Art is one of my favorite ways to experience this, so this nightlife centered art installation is super inspiring to me and my own artistic journey.
This exhibition is really cool! Queer nightlife has always been more than just a party scene. It's so important to showcase all the different types of queer art, and especially how the art captures how clubs, bars, and underground spaces became places where people could be themselves, even when society wasn’t accepting them. The different paintings and installations make it feel so much more immersive rather than just some historical recap. Two of the biggest standout pieces, in my opinion, were the VHS installation, which had this way of preserving moments from queer nightlife history, and the other one was the flyer collage because it genuinely feels like a snapshot of real events that have built up a community over time. What makes this show work is how it balances nostalgia with the present. And it just showcases how these people and their culture will always matter regardless of what anyone tries to do.
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