FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIME: THE DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF GAY LIBERATION FRONT’S ANDREW LUMSDEN
ANDREW LUMSDEN: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE LAST 50 YEARS – all publicity here and below
WEDNESDAY 11 JULY – SATURDAY 14 JULY
OPENING PARTY – WEDNESDAY 11 JULY, 6PM
PLATFORM SOUTHWARK – 1 JOAN STREET, SE1
The exhibition features 50 years of Andrew’s drawings; sketches of lovers, of friends, of comrades and activists, of strangers, and of figments of Andrew’s imagination.
Alongside the drawings are photos from the 2003 London Gay Pride. The first pride after the abolition of Section 28, and the first pride in which police officers were allowed to march.
[Picture ‘Boys Prepare for a Demo’ 2018 by Andrew Lumsden]
ANDREW LUMSDEN was very respectable until he encountered the Gay Liberation Front in London in 1970, and has been far less respectable since. He has been drawing since he was a kid and hopes all the brilliant artists like Jean Claude Thevenin, Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton, who drew for Gay News in the 1970s, where for a while he was editor, will be celebrated in 2022, the paper’s 50th anniversary.
The Retrospective is curated by DAN DE LA MOTTE on behalf of QUEER TOURS OF LONDON. Dan is a researcher, writer, tour guide and performer for QToL.
Curator Dan de la Motte said ‘I am so proud to have worked with artist Andrew Lumsden and Damien Arness-Dalton at Queerseum in putting this exhibition together. Andrew Lumsden: A Retrospective will be with us only fleetingly, but there is some beauty and power in that. On display at Platform Southwark are the faces and the bodies of Andrew’s friends, and lovers, and strangers, and figments of his imagination. The London Queer community owe Andrew and his contemporaries in the Gay Liberation Front a huge debt – it is they, and their mantra of ‘Out of the Closets and into the Streets!’ that has paved the way for other generations of Queers to question societal norms, question the way things are done, and be strong in their own Queer identities. Thank you Andrew – I hope I have done you and your work justice. Enjoy the exhibition.’
Artist Andrew Lumsden said ‘A public hanging of my pictures? It does seem a bit harsh, no matter how bad they are… No, seriously, I’m so grateful to my friends for organising this late come-out of the kind of drawings I’ve always liked to make. The Curator told me to tell anecdotes about the beginnings of each picture, they go back so far – 50 years the oldest two. So I’ve done as I’m told, and we’ve printed the little stories and they’re up alongside the drawings on Platform Southwark’s walls. I do hope you’ll enjoy both stories and pictures. Basically we’re shy, me and my drawings. I worry about them as they grow older. Will they end up on a skip? This way some will have been seen in a great space and given – I hope! – pleasure. Thank you!’
Damien Arness-Dalton founder of Queerseum said ‘Queerseum And Queer Tours of London honour our founding member Andrew by placing his work at the heart of our first exhibition. It’s such a pleasure to celebrate our radical queer activist and historian who captured Pride 2003 so beautifully on film and knowing he marched in the first Rallies advocating our rights and liberties with The Gay Liberation Front brings us full circle holding hands in solidarity and love. His drawings of close Friends and LGBT+ figures encapsulates a freedom and playfulness of the queer body and his queer eye he views his world from. The colour and life that springs from these works are a testament to the joy and contributions Andrew have given to our community and our shared visions to explore our Queer history and our lived experiences with generations old and new. I’m so happy to have to been part of this process and grateful to call him my friend. His work is delightful, cheeky and insightful a queer eye for the archive.’
Dan Glass, Queer Tours of London co-founder said ‘I encourage a mass boycott of Andrews exhibition until he keeps his promise to draw me. I can’t wait with my pants around my ankles in soho square forever ya’know Andrew you phenomenally talented temptress. We all love you.’
Contacts
Dan de la Motte, Curator: dandlmh@yahoo.co.uk | 07725402263
Links to exhibition: