I am so full of love for INTO THE NEON it’s a little overwhelming.

Amidst the grit and dirty snowbanks of Hell’s Kitchenette, halfway between Scores and the Eagle, twelve discordant visions came together to create genuine magic.

A clean concrete palace now spattered in glitter.  White walls exploding with color and pulsing neon.  The kind of place you want to stay for a while and play: a quiet desk for typing letters, a treehouse nook for curling up and reading handmade zines, and a magnificent queer fruit tree to tell stories under.

I’ve been using the space to edit a year’s worth of documentation of my chosen community.  Stringing together sequences of images of magical creatures and the light that touches us in the darkness.  I made five tendrils to drape from the queer fruit tree, like weeping willow strands:  Land. Family. Light. Tenderness. Night.  I’m finally starting to see the bigger picture of my work.

Despite the snow drifts and canceled school buses of our opening date, we still managed to pack in over 300 beautiful people at the opening last week.  If you couldn’t make it, that’s fine: we have five more evening events for you to experience.  See below for full details.  Also please note: we are closing early (the real estate gods hiccuped) so the last day to see the show is Saturday, Feb. 12.

Think about joining us for the closing ritual next Friday the 11th from 8 pm until dawn.  I don’t know exactly what will happen yet, but my plan is to find some closure with my process of editing last year’s images.  You are welcome to bring offerings from your own artistic process to add to the tree, or ritually let go of.  It’s a pretty loose space; we’re open to your ideas, and you can drift in and out throughout the night.

In other news, I will be on leave from my job at OSI for at least the next 6 weeks.  I’ll be spending most days at the gallery until we close – stop by and I’ll tell you more about what’s going on.

Lots of love.

EVENING QUEER BRILLIANCE at INTO THE NEON:

details at http://intotheneon.com/

Thurs 2/3: performART I: Conceptual performance art by nicole k., Amanda Cheong, Zhenesse Staniec Heinemann, Jacolby Satterwhite. Curated by Rebecca Greenberg and Zavé G. Martohardjono. 7-9 pm.

Fri 2/4: Conspire, Aspire, Perspire: Experimental queer films.  Curated by our friends at the MIX festival. 7-10 pm.

Tues 2/8: Queer Fruit Tree – Ritual 2: Heart Circle / the making of queer fruit. Storytelling and art-making under the queer fruit tree.  Led by Blaise.  7-10 pm.

Thurs 2/10: performART II: Conceptual performance art by Heather Ács, David Kagan, Helaine Gawlica, AA Bier.  Curated by Rebecca Greenberg and Zavé G. Martohardjono.  7-9 pm.

Friday 2/11:  Queer Fruit Tree – Closing Ritual.  A ritual closing of INTO THE NEON, honoring queer elders and artists and late night surprises.  Organized by Blaise and Quito.  8 pm until dawn.