Curated by Gary Freeman
June 12th - 27th, 2010

Opening Reception June 12th, 2010 7-10pm
Featuring a musicial performance by The Boyfriend

In celebration of Gay Pride Month, drkrm/gallery proudly presents an extraordinary, never-before-seen glimpse into pre-AIDS gay sexual culture. The Fairoaks Project is an exhibit of Polaroid photographs taken by Frank Melleno during the spring and summer of 1978 at The Fairoaks Hotel, a San Francisco bathhouse.

This exhibition contains graphic nudity and explicit content.

Situated in a refurbished Victorian building near a black ghetto, The Fairoaks was known for its laid-back and racially integrated ambiance. Bold and unapologetic, Melleno’s images capture an aspect of gay life rarely seen in snapshot photography: sexually candid encounters that are playful, spontaneous and often affectionate. The dark storm of drug abuse and pandemic disease that would soon overtake the community is not visible in these celebratory pictures.

Melleno’s collection of Polaroids was put in a box shortly after they were shot and have not been seen until now. Many of the images contain nudity and frank erotic scenes, but they also capture men dressed in festive attire and engaged in other aspects of the counter-culture lifestyle the Fairoaks promoted. Many artists lived at the hotel, and ongoing therapy-support groups and monthly theme parties enhanced the Fairoaks’ reputation as a neighborhood center for gay men as much as a bathhouse.

"Like a string of black pearls, San Francisco’s bathhouses adorned the city with a touch of louche glamour. The Hothouse. The Barracks. The Handball Express. Animals. The Club, Bulldog, Sutro and, down by the tracks, the Ritch Street Baths. The ever-notorious South-of-the-Slot, and so many more. (They were all officially closed in October 1984.) Each claimed a distinct character and clientele. But no place had quite the feeling of coming home once through the front door as did the Fairoaks... More than a pictorial record of a by-gone scene--or even of passing strangers with sticky feet--these photographs open a door into a secret gay world of sexual encounter and sweet innocence the likes of which will never be seen again."

--Mark Thompson, from the introduction to the exhibition catalog

A limited-edition hard-cover book of photographs from the exhibit, with an introduction by Mark Thompson, is available for purchase on BLURB

Regular gallery hours are Tue-Fri 11-5 Sat 12-5 Sun 1-4

All gallery events are free and open to the public.

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