Author Talk: Public Displays of Affection

Join us for a special evening celebrating the release of Public Displays of Affection: Fifty Years of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art with author and historian James M. Saslow. Recounting five decades of SoHo queer history, Saslow offers a capsule history presentation, followed by a reception with books available for purchase.

Public Displays of Affection: Fifty Years of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art recounts the half-century crusade of an intrepid and foresighted gay couple who, weeks before 1969's Stonewall riot, kicked off today's vibrant queer art scene by opening their SoHo loft to exhibit works by queer artists who were contemptuously barred from mainstream galleries and museums. From their private home to a public gallery, then a non-profit foundation, and finally a government charter, the artistic and political passions of Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman brought forth the world's only art museum dedicated to the visual expression of LGBTQ lives. "Public display of affection" usually means couples acting out physical desire in sight of others. But to the founders of New York's Leslie-Lohman Museum, it meant the public display of pictures celebrating such affection - which risked obscenity charges. Leslie-Lohman's dramatic evolution has mirrored broader cultural and social progress, and the Museum continues to play a vital role in promoting the visibility of queer images.

James M. Saslow is an emeritus professor of art history and Global Early Modern Studies at Queens College and the Graduate Center of The City University of New York, as well as an author and a former arts journalist, including many years as New York editor of The Advocate, America’s national gay and lesbian news magazine (1978-85).  He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University, with the first dissertation to deal frankly with homosexuality in Renaissance art; when published in 1986, Ganymede in the Renaissance helped open art history to consideration of homosexuality and gender in the early modern period.  A founding member of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at the CUNY Graduate Center in 1987-91, and two-term national co-chair of the Queer Caucus of the College Art Association (2000-04), he has been writing and lecturing about both historical and contemporary arts addressed to homosexual and lesbian experience for 50 years -- particularly about Michelangelo, whose poetry he translated (The Poetry of Michelangelo: An Annotated Translation, Yale 1991).

Accessibility
Chairs with backs will be available. Located at 26 Wooster Street, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art strives to provide a welcoming environment to all visitors. Five external steps lead to our entrance doors: a wheelchair lift is available. All galleries are wheelchair-accessible, and a single-occupancy accessible restroom is located behind the visitor services desk: all restrooms are gender-neutral. Large print didactics are available.

For questions or access requests, please email info@leslielohman.org with 1 week advance of your visit.