On display April 14 through July 15, 2023 at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago.
Purchase your tickets today for this powerful portrayal of Black gay men from the 1980s by Chicago photographer Patric McCoy.
Over a ten-year period, McCoy shot thousands of images — always at the subjects’ request — creating a rich document of 1980s Black gay Chicago. “Take My Picture” features a selection of some 50 black-and-white and color photographs from this decade, by the end of which thousands would die of HIV/AIDS, including many of McCoy’s friends, lovers, and subjects.
“McCoy and his camera fulfilled an unspoken need for Black men to be seen. Seen by someone who did not objectify them as ‘Other,’ but an insider who allowed them, paraphrasing Langston Hughes, to be their ‘beautiful black selves.’” ~ curator Juarez Hawkins
McCoy’s subjects are neither posed nor directed; each has agency over how he is seen, elevating his humanity, inverting and subverting the viewer’s gaze. “Take My Picture” can be seen as a poignant marker of place, time, and memory; an altar to those lost.
Tickets ($15) are required. One ticket provides access to all of the April 14 – July 15 exhibits at Wrightwood 659. Purchase tickets at wrightwood659.org/exhibitions/patric-mccoy-take-my-picture.
A special event, Toast the Artist: Patric McCoy, will be held Thursday, May 4, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. A limited number of tickets ($40) are available.
Wrightwood 659 is located at 659 W. Wrightwood, Chicago, IL 60614. The gallery is open on Thursdays from 1-8 p.m., Fridays from 12-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact the gallery at 773-437-6601 or info@wrightwood659.org.
Follow the gallery at www.Instagram.com/Wrightwood659, www.Facebook.com/Wrightwood659, or Vimeo.com/wrightwood659.
