‘Looking for Lesbians’ art exhibit explores lesbian pulp fiction

Looking for Lesbians exhibit

The art exhibit “Looking for Lesbians” is influenced by the lesbian pulp fiction collection, and other materials, at ONE Archives that are related to lesbian literature in Los Angeles. The exhibit was created by Sarah-Joy Ford, a textile artist from Manchester, England, who also is the artist-in-residence at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Photo: ONE Archives at USC Libraries

The art exhibit “Looking for Lesbians” is influenced by the lesbian pulp fiction collection, and other materials, at ONE Archives that are related to lesbian literature in Los Angeles.

The exhibit was created by Sarah-Joy Ford, a textile artist from Manchester, England, who also is the artist-in-residence at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.

The exhibit not only showcases the lesbian pulp fiction collection, but also highlights its significance and legacy, according to information from ONE Archives.

The heart of “Looking for Lesbians” is a series of works that examine the sorority as a site of sapphic intimacies, desire, and loss as well as brutal regulation of acceptable femininities.

These pieces draw from some of the earliest lesbian pulp novels written by women, including Vin Packer’s 1952 novel “Spring Fire” and Ann Bannon’s 1957 novel “Odd Girl Out.”

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Ford’s work in “Looking for Lesbians” also explores women’s societies and single-sex spaces in lesbian culture. The pieces include a quilt, a tracksuit, and embroidered patches.

Their iconography is inspired by a range of lesbian symbols – from Anne Lister’s funerary hatchment to the labrys of Monique Wittig’s Amazons.

The work is has a deliberately femme aesthetic, using shades of pink, pastel hues, satin, and sequins.

“Looking for Lesbians” also spotlights a network of Los Angeles lesbian literature, including Carolyn Weathers and Jenny Wrenn’s Clothespin Press, the Lesbian Writers Series at A Different Light bookshop in Silver Lake, and Terry Wolverton’s “Excavations” project at the Women’s Building near MacArthur Park.

“Looking for Lesbians” will open July 23 at the ONE Gallery in West Hollywood

RSVP is required for the 4-7 p.m. opening night.

About the author

Phillip Zonkel

Award-winning journalist Phillip Zonkel spent 17 years at Long Beach's Press-Telegram, where he was the first reporter in the paper's history to have a beat covering the city's vibrant LGBTQ. He also created and ran the popular and innovative LGBTQ news blog, Out in the 562.

He won two awards and received a nomination for his reporting on the local LGBTQ community, including a two-part investigation that exposed anti-gay bullying of local high school students and the school districts' failure to implement state mandated protections for LGBTQ students.

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