In the first of two conversations between Goldberg and a photographer featured in the exhibition, Goldberg will speak with Gwenwald about her wide-ranging documentation of lesbian and queer grassroots organizing in New York City in the 1970s-1990s. A volunteer and coordinator at the Lesbian Herstory Archives (LHA) since 1979, Gwenwald will share rarely before seen materials, including documentation of the 1982 Barnard Sex Conference and portraits of influential and beloved community members. Attendees will hear about Gwenwald’s practice, which includes publishing, exhibition making, constructing darkrooms, and building analogue networks for lesbian photographers to share skills and resources. The second event in the series will feature Diana Solís on May 11, 2023 – more info soon!
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Morgan Gwenwald is one of a small group of out lesbian photographers who emerged during the early days of the gay rights movement. Her work has filled newsletters, journals and magazines from the 70s through the 90s, including: Nothing but the Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image: A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography, The Persistent Desire: A Femme Butch Reader, Sinister Wisdom, and On Our Backs, to name a few. Gwenwald’s work has been featured in many exhibitions, including Art After Stonewall 1969-1989, which traveled from the Grey Art Gallery and Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art to the Columbus Museum of Art. Her goal has been to capture the world in which she lives in honest and loving detail. Her move to New York in 1979 started a long-term relationship with the Lesbian Herstory Archives where she still serves as a coordinator. She is currently based in upstate New York and works as a librarian.
Ariel Goldberg is a writer, curator, and photographer working with trans and queer lineages in photography. Goldberg’s books include The Estrangement Principle (Nightboat Books, 2016) and The Photographer (Roof Books, 2015). Their short-form writing has most recently appeared in Lucid Knowledge: On the Currency of the Photographic Image, Afterimage Journal, e-flux, Jewish Currents and Art in America. Goldberg has curated public programs for over ten years at venues including The Poetry Project and Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center. With Noam Parness they co-curated Uncanny Effects: Robert Giard’s Currents of Connection (2020) at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. Their work has been supported by the New Jewish Culture Fellowship, New York Public Library Research Rooms, the Franklin Furnace Fund, and SOMA in Mexico City. They were a 2020 recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for their book-in-progress on trans and queer image cultures of the late 20th century. Goldberg has taught photography, writing, and contemporary art practices at Bard College, The New School, New York University, Pratt Institute, and Rutgers University.