The Kunstmuseum Luzerne’s landmark 1974 exhibition of transvestism and queer imagery is to be recreated at Richard Saltoun Gallery this December. Marking the fortieth anniversary of the original show, “Transformer: Aspects of Travesty” will explore the aesthetics of sexuality in 1970s subcultures, and how they have come to be viewed today.
The show took its name from a 1972 album by the late Lou Reed, frontman of the Velvet Underground. Many of the artists are from Switzerland, such as Urs Lüthi and Walter Pfeiffer, although the exhibition will also include work by British artist Tony Morgan, and Andy Warhol.
In 1974 “Transformer: Aspekte der Travestie” received almost no press in the UK; however, it proved seminal in the study of gender and queer theories. Over the course of this year exhibitions such as “David Bowie is” at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the ICA’s off-site show “A Journey Through Subculture: 1980s to Now” have seen these once transgressive ideas gain clout within major British establishments. The show's curator Giulia Casalini told ARTINFO UK: “there has absolutely been an institutionalisation of queer theories and practices.” Citing Tate Liverpool’s recent show “Glam! The Performance of Style,” she explained that this is a good thing: “I have seen myself that over the past year institutions, the Tate for example, have been making a huge effort to show queer and feminist practices to the mainstream culture.”
The show at Richard Saltoun is not going to be an exact recreation of the original, but many of the exhibits will be the same. Where they are not, similar works by the same artists and from the same time period will be shown instead. The gallery is also going to host a series of film screenings, performances and talks that will run concurrently.
“Transformer: Aspects of Travesty,” December 13 2013 until February 14 2014, Richard Saltoun Gallery
