Reception with the Los Angeles Band of Brothers: Thursday, June 12, 2014, 4-8pm
Exhibition Closing Reception: Sunday, June 22, 2014, 1-5pm
Jay R. Lawton’s PROJECT 50 challenges cultural stereotypes about gay men and aging. Traditionally relegated to sexual invisibility by the age of fifty, the men in Lawton’s photographs defy cultural expectations by presenting themselves as self-possessed, confident, and very sexual beings. Survivors of the worst years of the AIDS plague, these men are role models for younger generations of gay men, illuminating pathways to self-fulfilled maturity and comradery. Jay R. Lawton: PROJECT 50 at the ONE Gallery marks the first showing of the series, in total fifty photographs printed on metal, as it was envisioned by Lawton.
Jay R. Lawton: PROJECT 50 is on view at the ONE Archives Gallery & Museum as a part of the LA PRIDE Festival. Please note that during the LA PRIDE Weekend, June 6-8, 2014, the exhibition will only be accessible from within the Festival.
Jay R. Lawton: PROJECT 50 is organized by Tom Trafelet and Peter Ayala.
Bio
Jay R. Lawton was born July 20, 1961 and moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue a career in the film industry. For over a decade Lawton ran his own fine art studio, JayPG Photography. During his life he was the primary documentarian of the Los Angeles leather scene, capturing bar events, working with the Tom of Finland Foundation, and acting as principle photographer for the Mr. Los Angeles Leather contest. Documenting over two decades of gay and lesbian history in Los Angeles, Lawton’s photo archives have been generously gifted to ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries. Lawton passed away on April 23, 2013 from liver cancer. In his memory, friends and community members have raised the funds to complete his final work.
