Dyke+ ArtHaus Visits the Bureau

THE WORK OF MORE THAN 60 LESBIAN ARTISTS 40 AND ELDER

May 17 - September 8, 2024

The Philadelphia-based Dyke+ ArtHaus is a community-driven space for Dyke artists of all persuasions, centering those 40 and over. The D+AH’s Open Call for U.S.-based Dyke/Lesbian-identified artists 40 years of age and over attracted submissions from 14 states and included works of collage, drawing, installation, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture, and textile. This summer exhibit at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division in New York City aims to reflect the diversity of Dykes and the diversity of their art practices. The theme is the show itself.

Some pieces reflect Dyke identity or sexuality, like the work of Amina Cruz, Morgan Gwenwald, Michelle Schapiro, and Judy Ornelos Sisneros; others reflect a variety of individual themes. For example, the satin and felt banner work of Heather Raquel Phillips which boldly states “ARMOR, PUT FORTH”, lorry morales waldie’s piece “mifepristone”, where she uses premenopausal blood as paint on paper, and Fumiko Ohno who created a detailed mixed media piece using an old book, marker, acrylic paint and paper collage.

The spectrum of represented experience runs from artists who have been showing work for decades, to those who have shown work once or twice, to the many in between who literally jumped for joy at the welcoming opportunity to submit to an all-Lesbian show.

“I have been creating art my entire life and I often feel like the token lesbian in shows and programs. I want to be part of this show to be in community with other dyke artists.” — E. Lombardo, exhibiting artist

This joy exists in deep contrast to the multiple state conflicts occurring worldwide throughout the time of this exhibition. As of May 17, 2024, the exhibit opening day, 34,900 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocide in Gaza (SOURCE: United Nations Data). Dyke, Queer, and Trans liberation is interwoven with the struggle and liberation of the Palestinian people. The exhibiting artists and curators stand in solidarity with, and lift up the plight of, the peoples of Congo, Palestine, and Sudan, where genocide, starvation, oppression, and occupation are a daily force that has forever changed the lives of current and future generations.

Dyke+ ArtHaus Visits The Bureau sits within the lineage of lesbian artist group exhibitions including A Lesbian Show (1978), Great American Lesbian Art Show (1980), Lesbians To Watch Out For: 90s Queer LA Activism (2019), and Rebel Dykes Art and Archive Show (2021).

This lineage is destined to continue long after the last call at your local Dyke Bar.

~ Juno Rosenhaus and Lola Flash, curators