May 17, 2011
San Francisco Fashion From the Sixties (and the Cockettes)
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
LOS ANGELES - In honor of Gay Pride Month, drkrm/gallery is presenting "Children of Paradise: Life with The Cockettes," photographer Fayette Hauser's intimate portrait of the pioneering, gender-bending, 1970s San Francisco theatrical troupe. This collection of photographs documents both the candid behind the scenes life as well as rare performance shots from their short but groundbreaking run.
As the psychedelic San Francisco of the 1960s began evolving into the gay San Francisco of the 1970s, The Cockettes, a flamboyant ensemble of hippies--gay and straight--decked themselves out in gender-bending drag and tons of glitter for a series of legendary midnight musicals at the Palace Theater in North Beach. "It was complete sexual anarchy," says filmmaker John Waters. "You couldn't tell the men from the women. It was really new at the time, and it still would be new."
The Cockettes were heralded as cutting edge and they attracted admiration from John Lennon, Truman Capote and Marlene Dietrich, among others. Rex Reed wrote a glowing review about one of their shows, Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma, calling it "a landmark in the history of new, liberated theater..." The group broke many social, cultural and sexual boundaries foraging a hot path straight through the era. Today their influence is still felt in fashion, theater and film and inspired the glitter rock era of David Bowie, Elton John, and The New York Dolls, as well as the campy extravaganzas of Bette Midler to Lady Gaga.
Fayette Hauser, a founding member of the Cockettes, performed with the group and contributed to the look and structure of many of the shows, as well as photographing them until their demise in the spring of 1972. Born in Troy, New York, Fayette grew up in the honky-tonk town of Asbury Park, New Jersey. She received her first camera, a Brownie Holiday Flash, at age nine. As a teen-ager, Fayette ran away from home frequently to Manhattan where she met filmmakers Jack Smith and Andy Warhol and was in the Warhol film The Life Story of Juanita Castro. Fayette now lives in Los Angeles and was educated at Boston University, College of Fine Arts, receiving a BFA.
drkrm/gallery exhibits popular cultural images, fine art photography, cutting edge and alternative photographic processes. drkrm/gallery is located at 727 S. Spring Street in the Gallery Row district of Downtown Los Angeles. Regular gallery hours are Wednesdays through Saturdays, 12-6 p.m.
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DETAILS:
"Children of Paradise: Life with The Cockettes, San Francisco 1969-1972"
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Photographs by Fayette Hauser
727 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213.239.0361
June 4-July 2, 2011
Opening Reception, Saturday, June 4, 6 to 10 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 323.271.5635
LINK: Cockettes @ drkrm
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
