Grand Union is delighted to have worked with Phyllis Christopher on a solo exhibition of her work. Drawing from the surrounding queer community and her personal connections, her images depict lesbian pleasure, sex positivity and political movements.
Christopher was based in San Francisco from 1988, and was photo editor of On Our Backs, a lesbian erotica magazine, from 1991-1994. During this time, she sensitively captured many gender expressions, moments of protest and moments of queer intimacy in the face of censorship and extreme homophobia at the time.
The show at Grand Union was an expansion and exploration of Christopher’s work, focusing on the ‘heads and tails’ of her published work. The show blurred the lines of her personal collection and commercial shooting, showcasing queer collectivity and joy.
In 2021, Christopher’s work was the subject of a major retrospective organised between BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, and Grand Union, Birmingham.
Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest, 1988–2003, published by Book Works in October 2021, is the first book to spotlight Phyllis Christopher’s trailblazing photographs documenting lesbian erotic life and political struggle. Revealing a history that speaks to present queer feminist politics today, the book will feature an expertly handled edit of 100 images, alongside new writing by Laura Guy, Susie Bright, Michelle Tea, and an interview with Shar Rednour.
Artist Biography
Phyllis Christopher is a photographer whose work documenting LGBTQ sexuality and protest in San Francisco has been published widely in anthologies such as Nothing But The Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image (Susie Bright and Jill Posener, 1996), Photo Sex: Fine Art Sexual Photography Comes of Age (David Steinberg, 2003), Art & Queer Culture (Catherine Lord and Richard Meyer, 2013) as well as magazines such as DIVA, Aperture and Art Monthly. Between 1991 and 1994 Christopher was the photo editor of the groundbreaking lesbian erotica magazine On Our Backs. She has featured on HBO’s ‘Sexbytes’, Canadian television’s ‘Sex TV’ and the documentary film, Erotica – A Journey into Female Sexuality. Recently, her photographs have been included in various exhibitions including ‘On Our Backs: An Archive’ (The NewBridge Project, Newcastle, 2016) and ‘Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance’ (Nottingham Contemporary, De La Warr Pavilion and Arnolfini, Bristol, 2019). She is a 2020 finalist of the Queer|Art Robert Giard Grant for Emerging LGBTQ+ Photographers.
This project was put together collaboratively with Phyllis Christopher, Kim McAleese, Hannah Adereti, and Reuben B. Z. Liebeskind.
Interview
Phyllis Christopher and Hannah Adereti, Curatorial Fellow, sit down for a interview about Phyllis’ archive.
Phyllis Christopher Interview Transcript
EVENTS
Book Launch
Friday 4 March 2022
6.30–8.30pm
Join Phyllis Christopher and Book Works on Friday 4th March at Grand Union to mark the end of Head and Tails and celebrate the launch of the long-awaited book Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest, 1988–2003.
The book brings together fifteen years of Christopher’s work, reproducing photographs of startling intensity and sensuality alongside new writing by Susie Bright, Laura Guy, Michelle Tea and an interview with Shar Rednour, Dark Room is a heartfelt record of Christopher’s devotion to an analogue tradition, to the pleasures of photographs and the community that made them.
Find out more about the book launch here.
Digbeth First Fridays
1 October, 5 November, 3 December, 4 February
Digbeth comes alive on the first Friday of each month with exhibitions, late-night openings, special events, culture in unexpected spaces, live music and more. At Grand Union we will be opening late for you to see the Phyllis Christopher show.
Digbeth First Friday runs from 6pm ‘til late and event times vary. We recommend you check the listings in advance so you can make the most of your evening. Maps are available online a few days before the event and at participating venues on the day.
Follow on twitter @digbethfirstfri and join in the conversation using #digbethfirstfriday
Breakfast Launch
Thursday 30 September
8.30–10.30am
(Food and refreshments included)
We hosted a breakfast opening of Phyllis Christopher’s exhibition on Thursday 30th September, 8.30 – 10.30am. This was an opportunity to see the show within a relaxed atmosphere over tea and coffee.
Exhibition Launch
Friday 24 September
6–8pm
We are please to have opened the solo exhibition of Phyllis Christopher’s archive at Grand Union Gallery. We will be launching with celebratory drinks and a chance to explore the show for the very first opening to the public.
Use the hashtag #headsandtails on our social media.
Workshop
Queer Womxn’s* Photography Workshop, led by Phyllis Christopher
Saturday 26th February, 1–6pm, Grand Union (lunch provided, 1–2pm by Grand Union)
£10 (or pay what you can), book via Eventbrite.
As part of Phyllis Christopher’s exhibition Heads and Tails at Grand Union, she will be leading a Queer womxn’s* Photography Workshop.
If you love to take photographs, be photographed, or are just curious to experience and explore either/both of these things, please come along to this friendly, informal workshop.
We will discuss the importance of documenting lesbian and queer lives, and explore intimacies, self portraits, couples, groups, fetishes, and anything else that may be of interest. This will be a chance for womxn with all levels of experience to have a play with modeling or taking photos.
Please bring your digital and film cameras. If you only photograph with your phone, that’s also fine. We will not be sharing images on social media – this will be an opportunity to consider creativity within the space of the workshop, away from censoring parameters that often arise when images are created to be shared online.
Phyllis will be using her current digital camera as well as the original film camera used to create the images in Heads and Tails, and her book, Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest, 1988-2003.
To book please visit Eventbrite, for further information contact kim@grand-union.org.uk
*In the tradition of the work in Heads and Tails, we will create a safe and welcoming womxn-only space – by this we mean women (inclusive of trans women), trans and non-binary folks. We have a zero tolerance policy for homophobia and transphobia.
ExhibItion HandOut
Phyllis Christopher Floor Plan
Exhibition documentation by Patrick Dandy, and exhibition design by MJM Bespoke.
