Jimmy Desana : Submission

Jimmy DeSana: Submission is the first museum survey of work by a significant yet overlooked figure in the histories of photography, New York City, and LGBTQ artists. From his time photographing suburban landscapes in Atlanta, Georgia, to his role in the New York punk scenes, Jimmy DeSana (American, 1949–1990) conveyed the radical spirit of his era through an irreverent critique of the American Dream and its images. The book traces his brief yet prolific career through nearly two hundred works on view (some for the first time) and over twenty years that bridged mail-art networks, New York’s 1970s and ’80s subcultures, the illuminating image-play of the “Pictures Generation,” and various responses to HIV/AIDS. As part of punk aesthetics and its symbolic forms of resistance, DeSana and his peers sought to forge art communities outside of official institutions. The book showcases his extensive involvement in zines, artist collectives, performance art, experimental film, and club culture.