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JUNE 17, 2018 @ 5:30 PM PDT
GARY FREEMAN
NICK MACIERZ
ARNO YERETZIAN
BEN EVANS
with host JOHN SEMPER JR.
This June marks the first celebration of Gay Pride Month in Glendale, home to the largest Armenian population in the diaspora. The celebration includes a series of LGBTQ-themed events organized by Abril Books, Roslin Art Gallery, Gaucho’s Village, The Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society (GALAS), and the ACE/121 Gallery, home to QUEER, the first Queer art show in Glendale. The prime organizer behind the event is ACE/121 resident, Grey James, with the full cooperation and efforts of the guests on our show. Learn more about the show here and see the final upcoming events below. QUEER has been made possible through the support of the Eisner Foundation and the California Arts Council.
Cis-gender male, married
GARY FREEMAN is a co-curator for the “Queer” art show at the ACE/121 Gallery in Glendale, CA. He was Curator for the Fairoaks Project Bathhouse show, which presents Polaroids from a gay bathhouse in San Francisco in 1978. It’s the only known collection of candid images from a bathhouse in the pre-AIDS era. Exhibitions have been mounted in LA, SF and NYC. Gary has been a Glendale resident for 35 years.
Cis-gender male, married
NICK MACIERZ is retired from the Gene Autry Museum. He is active in the local arts scene and has been a Glendale resident for 22 years. He is a co-curator of the “Queer” art show. He was Project Coordinator for the Fairoaks Project, the historical Polaroid show which was garnered featured reviews in national publications including The Advocate and Lambda Literary.
Arno Yeretzian with mother Seeroon Yeretzian
ARNO YERETZIAN is the owner of Abril Bookstore, the oldest Armenian bookstore, established by his father and uncle in 1978. In 2014, he joined the bookstore to Roslin Art Gallery, which his mother had established in 1995, to form an Armenian cultural center, where he hosts author events, art exhibits, film nights, and musical performances. He was born in Lebanon at the start of civil war in 1976 and immediately resettled with his family into the Armenian community of Hollywood. Arno obtained a B.A. in Film and Video from UC Santa Cruz. His films include Planet Zorthian, an experimental cubist documentary about famed artist, Jirayr Zorthian.
BEN EVANS is the Program Director/Gallery Curator for ACE/121. Originally from WA State, Ben settled in Los Angeles after a decade living abroad. Following a B.A. in Theater Studies from Yale University, he lived in London, Barcelona and Paris, where he earned an M.A. in Theater and Choreography from the University of Paris 8. His work as a choreographer and performer toured across Europe and parts of North and South America, and his more recent work in visual art has been shown in France, Germany, Brazil and Cyprus. He grew up with a strong sense of service and his move to Los Angeles was inspired by a desire to make an impact on a local level. He is elated to work with the residents at ACE/121 in Glendale in creating an innovative model of multi-generational living, art making and community development.
“The Many Faces of Armenians: A Celebration of Queer Armenian Art” runs through June 28th at Abril Books.
June 28th at 7:30 pm at the ACE/121 Gallery: homo-centric presents an evening of spoken word & performance. Eight people will share different stories that answer one question: “What Makes You Queer?” in a gallery filled with work by 22 artists and more than 40 statements from community members answering that same question. The art show continues through July 1st.
