About “Queer Spaces: London 1980s-Today” at the Whitechapel Gallery
A dive into London’s brazen and political LGBT+ history.
Let’s get straight to the point: London’s LGBT+ venues are closing due to new property development and exponential rents and this exhibition is NOT HAVING IT. At first glance, just a small room filled with an unsexy succession of documents in glass cases, it packs more political punch than all your worst family dinners put together. Here’s what it’s all about.
First of all, bring your specs, because there is a lot of reading involved. Indeed, rather than an art exhibition, this is a documentary in the shape of a hundred or so flyers, letters, newspapers cuttings, deeds (stay with me), and other various evidence of London’s queer scene history. It is peppered with literally six pieces of art, so do not expect a classic gallery experience, as the WG, as no one calls it, is being less gallery and more community hub in this.
When it does come to the art, the key piece is The Scarcity of Liberty #2 by Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings, a supersized pin board covered with real memorabilia collected in gay clubs and venues around the country. What strikes the eye first is the obligatory club flyers featuring pictures of semi-naked, muscular, oiled male bodies, which put together offer a commentary on the toxic pressure of the standardised super-macho white body as the gay physical ideal. But if you look at the board longer, what you will notice is an array of wholesome, community-centred flyers about subjects as varied as mental health, addiction support, religion, safe sex, inclusive education, health, family, grief, etc.
In fact, a lot of the documents show the role of the LGBT+ community not just as a group of people united by their various sexual and gender identities, but as a force for social change, supporting its own people and a vast range of other causes. For instance, you will find flyers from the Black Lesbian & Gay Centre supporting an anti-apartheid march in 1987, or documents from the First Out Café, a vegetarian food spot with an aim to provide rewarding and stable jobs to LGBT+ people.
This inspiring energy is put in shocking contrast with a 1984 rejection letter addressed to the London Lesbian And Gay Centre by the Charity Commission that states that even though sexual relations between men were de-criminalised, “the practice of homosexuality can still be regarded as corrupting” , and “corruption of public morality cannot be accepted as charitable”.
Now if that makes you want to jump in a time machine because you have a few not-so-polite things to say to the aforementioned Commission, please be aware that time machines do not exist yet, but that there are a few other things that might make you feel better. In fact, keep browsing and you will find a nicely surprising letter of support to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern from the reverend of a neighbouring church, expressing how important the venue is for the LGBT+ community and for London’s architectural history. Boy, do I love the sound of my own prejudices being smashed to the ground.
When your old eyes need a break from all that reading, you can have a look at Ralph Dunn‘s photo series called Public Toilets. It features empty public toilets formerly used as cruising spots, before their demolition. It leaves you wondering about whether or not the new meeting places of the gay community are safer, in terms of actual security, but also in terms of longevity in the face of new construction.
My favourite piece of the whole exhibition is an epic letter from the gay pub Central Station inviting the Queen Mother Elizabeth to a party thrown in honour of her 96th birthday. In a respectful, if untraditionally cheeky way, the owners assure her that she will find the drag acts created for her “both amusing and entertaining” and that she “can be quite certain, m’am, that [her] birthday will be most loudly and loyally celebrated”. And as if that wasn’t brilliant enough, next to it is the Queen Mother’s answer. Did she go? Did she not? You know what, I will not spoil that for you.
Overall, this is an importantly timely exhibition, that will not woo you with crazy cool art, but will leave you feeling pleasantly educated and deeply connected to London’s constantly evolving soul. The aim of the exhibition is clear: it’s not here to make your Instagram pop, it’s here to ask you to join the fight.
Queer Spaces: London, 1980s — Today
2 April — 25 August 2019
Whitechapel Gallery
77–82 Whitechapel High St London E1 7QX
Open everyday 11am-6pm, on Thursdays 11am-9pm, closed on Mondays
Free entry
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