The Rebel Dykes Art & Archive Show is an exhibition bringing lesbians and queer people to the forefront
Despite the fact they put the ‘L’ into LGBTQ+, one group might not have been populating your feed as visibly as others this Pride month. Happily, a new London exhibition, The Rebel Dykes Art & Archive Show, is here to redress the balance. Bringing 50 queer artists together, from contemporary dyke artists, to work showcasing underrepresented cultural histories from the past 40 years, the show proves that whatever the reasons for underrepresentation, a lack of content isn’t one of them. From political activism to imaginative erotica, to entertaining performers, dyke culture is rich, radical, and thriving.
The Rebel Dykes, subjects of a recent documentary, met through Greenham Common peace camps and 80s squats. Their members fought political oppression; protesting Section 28 which defined homosexual love as a ‘pretend family relationship’; storming BBC News in 1988 and abseiling into the House of Commons. They celebrated queer sexuality, including a lesbian S&M clubnight in Vauxhall called Chain Reaction and Del LaGrace Volcano’s sex-positive lesbian photography book Love Bites. The exhibition’s co-curators are Atalanta Kernick, a long-standing member of this scene and artist Kat Hudson, who represents a younger generation of dykes via her zine, Lesley Magazine.
The contributors range from lesbian art icon, Del LaGrace Volcano, documentary photographer, Jessica Tanzer, who photographed 80s to 90s San Francisco throughout the AIDS crisis and ActUp movement; to contemporary practitioners like Katayoun Jalilipour, a genderqueer, Iran-born multidisciplinary artist and performer, and many more.
London hair and make-up artist and photographer, Darren Evans, had been photographing the queer community for over ten years, when a conversation with Kernick prompted him to carry out a long-held idea to photograph Butches and Kings. The series comprises many identities; cis women, trans, and non-binary folk; Evans’s close friend, trans man Lysander Dove “has sat for me many times. There’s a lovely connection that comes with photographing a friend and that trust comes across.”
Other sitters include drag king performers like Dr Stainz and Prinx Silver, a performer in Bimini Bon Boulash’s show. Darren adds: “Dyke culture has always been a part of my life ever since I came out in the late 80s. At (London gay bars), dyke presence was a wonderfully grounding, inclusive antidote to the often one-dimensional gay men-only scene of the time.”
Photographer and artist Imogen Cleverley and erotic artist India Jaggon, co-founders of queer DIY smut zine RUB Magazine, present some heart-stopping Polaroids in the show. Cleverley tells Dazed: “India and I document our relationship incessantly, (usually) through an erotic lens. We’ve been delving into lesbian and queer archival erotica and photography and wanted to carry on that flame.” Jaggon explains their creative process: “For the image of Imogen and Eliza, we created dykes in nature. It’s an homage to references including ‘Dyketatic’s’ by Barbara Hammer and queer cruising.” They add: “We wanted to show that queers exist as part of nature and that queer sex is natural.”
Bernice Mulenga, photographer and documenter of the London QTBIPOC party scene, including nightclub Pxssy Palace, recounts the story behind their portrait of kissing clubbers. “I had a crush that month and really wanted to set up a kissing booth at this party we were having. I actually ended up going on a first date with my crush the same day and I was feeling the love. Everyone was feeling the love at the party, and it was nice to dance with people and invite them for a photo. It became a small series after that.” Reflecting on the image, they add: “Looking at them reminds me of a good time, a good moment.”
Speaking about dyke representation, Hudson puts the lack of “fun exciting and playful lesbian culture” we see down to a media focus “on women picking fights with each other,” resulting in “a disproportionate amount of coverage portraying lesbians as angry, transphobic, and exclusionary, which is not only false, but hugely damaging and disheartening.”
Jaggon describes “a huge lack of true representation. We want to see disabled queers, neuro diverse queers, fat queers, and more QTBIPOC representation.” They add: “We believe everyone should be documented no matter who you are, and will shoot anyone who is willing to work with us.” Evans points out: “I don’t feel like drag kings are afforded the same opportunities as drag queens and I believe this to be rooted in misogyny.”
”With only one lesbian bar left in London, we just don’t have the physical space necessary to congregate and form vital intergenerational connections” – Kat Hudson
Hudson hopes the show will bring the community together, saying, “It took me a lot of time and effort to find my personal cultural history and community. With only one lesbian bar left in London, we just don’t have the physical space necessary to congregate and form vital intergenerational connections.” She hopes the exhibition counteracts that, saying, “I can’t wait for everyone to see it, touch it, and be inside it! I hope that this will be the start of many more collaborations, dyke shows, and celebrations of dyke fun.”
Jaggon and Cleverley sum up their anticipation: “We’re exhibiting alongside artists we’ve been inspired by since we were baby queers, and hopefully we can bag a little flirt with some fit dykes!”
Admission to The Rebel Dykes Art & Archive Show is free, with tickets available here