Inside Right

Inside Right is an attempt to document all of California’s queer bars that were open at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, honoring those that closed their doors during this time and celebrating those that continue to serve.  The piece invokes the impossible intimacy of queer bar and nightlife culture during the pandemic — and the both the thrills and challenges of reopening — with the attendant multi-sensory experiences of being packed into these often small but sacred spaces of sexuality, performance, and community.  

Formatted as a collection of stamps, the piece gestures toward the intimate ephemerality of these simple markers of entry into nightlife venues—a practice that, at the peak of the pandemic, would have been especially dangerous given the physical proximity and interpersonal touch needed to mark the skin. It also notes  the general precarity of queer community spaces (even prior to pandemic restrictions).

Net proceeds of poster sales support queer nightlife and community organizations — the Stud Bar Stabilization Fund and TransLatin@ Coalition.

Special thanks to Cai Carranza and Kiana Lynn Macayan Anderson for their studio assistance.