Gay Semiotics is a set of two dozen iconic photographs with embedded text, presented as a tongue-in-cheek anthropological essay on the codes of sexual orientation and identification in 1970s San Francisco. They’re on view through June 27 - for the first time in San Francisco since 1977 - at Ratio 3 gallery, 2831A Mission St.
Eric Jansen's guests on this week's Out in the Bay (7pm Thursday) are gallery associate director Theo Elliott and photographer Hal Fischer, whose photos captured a pivotal moment in the city’s history - a liberating period before the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone and the devastation of AIDS. Coupled with the gallery exhibit is a re-installation of Fischer’s full-size billboard A Salesman – a reclining male nude with black bar over the eyes and a large phone number - now on display at Ratio 3through June 27 and outdoors on Market Street between Guerrero and Octavia through June 28.
Hear the conversation 7pm PDT Thursday, June 18, on kalw.org + 91.7fm SF or after broadcast at OutintheBay.org. While you listen, see more of Fischer's photos here.
Images courtesy of the artist and Ratio 3, San Francisco.