Hey all, check out this great interview with Chris where he talks about Criminal Queers, Homotopia, all his other amazing projects and his love for the word “tranny”! You can read it here.

Redistributing Life Chances: The Fantastical Homotopias of Chris Vargas

Chris and Eric, along with Chris and Greg talked a bit at the closing panel for the Suggestions of a Life Being Lived exhibit at SF CAMERAWORK. Adrienne Skye Roberts and Danny Orendorff curated the amazing show and the panel was moderated by Tammy Rae Carland and also featured Jeannie Simms. There were great questions from the moderator and the audience and an overall productive night of mayhem. Adrienne and Danny are working away putting together a pretty catalog for the show, so be on the lookout for that come March! Here is a link to some photos of the night, pay no attention to the scary one of me where I look like I’m eating something?!

Our friend Hoku is toiling away in LA on a final cut of Criminal Queers (as in one with an ending and all!) We hope to have it all wrapped up soon and will be touring a bit with it in the Midwest and east coast this spring, so hit us up if you want us to come ‘round your way!

In other news, we are still shocked, and not at all, by the National Portrait Gallery’s censorship of David Wojnarowicz’s film, “A Fire in My Belly.” We hope one day to be censored by such people, then we will know for sure we are doing something important and worthwhile. At least Foucault was correct about the incitement to discourse, in other words, watch it here A Fire In My Belly

Yes, it is true Chris and Eric will be showing Homotopia, the movie and magic that started all the mayhem so many years ago. The fun will start at 8:30 pm on Thursday the 4th of November at the Oscar Wilde House at 2410 Warring St. in Berkeley. Come on over!

SF Camerawork and QCCA present:
Suggestions of a Life Being Lived: a Conversation
Speakers: Adrienne Skye Roberts and Danny Orendorff – exhibition curators; Jeannie Simms, Eric Stanley, Chris Vargas, and Greg Youmans – exhibiting artists
Introductions: Chuck Mobley, SF Camerawork
Moderator: Tammy Rae Carland, CCA

SF Camerawork, 657 Mission St., 2ndFloor
Friday, October 22^nd
5:30 Exhibition walk through with Adrienne Skye Roberts and Danny Orendorff
6 – 7:30 pm Panel discussion featuring artists from the exhibition

SF Camerawork and QCCA present a conversation with curators Adrienne Skye Roberts and Danny Orendorff and artists from the exhibition: Jeannie Simms, Eric Stanley, Chris Vargas, and Greg Youmans. Moderated by artist, activist, educator, Tammy Rae Carland; the panel will address the complex themes of the exhibition:

• The public sphere as a site for protest, education and affection

• Self-organized communities, both intentional and imagined

• Utopian, alternative worlds and the performance of self-determination

About the Exhibition
Suggestions of a Life Being Lived, is a bold presentation of contemporary work that explores queer activism, intentional and imagined communities, self-determinism, and DIY alternative world-making. The exhibition features 16 artists working in photography, film, video, activism, and education.

Organized for SF Camerawork by independent guest curators Danny Orendorff and Adrienne Skye Roberts, Suggestions of a Life Being Lived looks at queerness as a set of political alliances and possibilities that exist beyond the sphere of dominant gay and lesbian culture.

Unconcerned with categorical sexual identities or coming-out narratives, Suggestions of a Life Being Lived originates from a place of “outness” and considers how a sense of liberated queerness is pursued and mediated within public spaces and behaviors.

About SF Camerawork

Founded in 1974, SF Camerawork encourages emerging and mid-career artists to explore new directions in photography and related media by fostering creative forms of expression that push existing boundaries. Throughout its history, SF Camerawork has nurtured artists, mentored youth and helped make San Francisco a destination for the exploration of photography as an artistʼs medium. Its exhibitions are nationally recognized as a focal point for innovation, a pacesetter for new trends in the medium and a launching pad for the careers of young artists. With three galleries and an education center at its new centrally located facility, SF Camerawork is the only nonprofit organization in the Bay Area with an exhibition space and educational programs focused exclusively on contemporary photography and related visual image media. It is an accessible venue for people to view exhibitions, meet artists, participate in educational programs, peruse photographic publications, and gather for lectures, screenings, portfolio reviews, and discussions.

About Queer Conversations on Culture and the Arts
Queer Conversations on Culture and the Arts brings together locally and nationally renowned artists, writers, filmmakers, and scholars for a series of conversations to discuss a broad range of LGBTQI topics in the humanities and the arts. QCCA is an on-going collaboration between the Queer Cultural Center and California College of the Arts.

About QCCA: http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/QCCA/QCCAIndex.html

Co-sponsored by SF Camerawork; Critical Studies, Visual Studies, Graduate Program in Fine Arts, and The Graduate Program in Visual & Critical Studies at the California College of the Arts, Queer Conversations on Culture and the Arts and The Queer Cultural Center.