Being Seen Makes a Movement Possible

About

Being Seen Makes a Movement Possible draws on JEB’s (Joan E. Biren) extensive documentation of the LGBTQ movement for more than 40 years. JEB (Joan E. Biren) was one of the earliest photographers to bring visibility to the movement with her fierce yet tender images of activists. In this installation she chronicles critical years of our history as a colorful and diverse LGBTQ people:

“I started photographing at a time when it was almost impossible to find authentic images of lesbians. I wanted my photographs to be seen because I believed they could help build a movement for our liberation. To make my work easily accessible, I published it in newspapers, calendars, books, postcards and posters. I did not make my photographs to be exhibited on a gallery wall. This is why it is such a joy to know my images will be 8’ tall in the windows of the Leslie-Lohman Museum and visible to everyone walking by. LGBTQ people have made many gains in the 50 years since Stonewall, but today our basic civil rights are being threatened. The fight to preserve our lives and liberties requires a powerful movement. Photographs are evidence of our brave history and can inspire the spirit of love and resistance we need now.”

This façade installation will be on view starting on June 1, 2019, at the official unveiling at the Museum’s annual block party. This event kicks off Pride month which this year commemorates both the 50th anniversary of both the Stonewall Uprising and the origins of Leslie-Lohman Museum. JEB is the third artist to be invited to participate in the commission.

QUEERPOWER ’s public art installation is funded in part by the Art and Social Justice mission of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, an organization that believes in this project and fosters dialogue, encourages diversity, promotes education, and nurtures and empowers communities.