Death, Art, and Ecosexuals at a Church in San Francisco
Photography by Vita Hewitt. Blasemphy by La Pocha Nostra.
I really only like going to church in San Francisco. In other cities, the churches are probably full of priests, pastors, and prophets. But I’m rarely looking for that kind of performance.
In San Francisco, you can get a nice sound bath at Grace Cathedral, Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary put on a good outdoor service in Dolores Park on Easter, and if you want to sing and give back, there’s no better place than Glide Church in the TL.
But if you worship art, St. Joseph’s is where you want to congregate. On Wednesday evening there were living dioramas performed by Guillermo Gómez-Peña & La Pocha Nostra, a living archive depicting a 50-year body of performance work.
“For me performance art is a form of radical democracy and citizenship which depends on the presence of the audience/community to succeed. I view my approach to creating this hybrid piece as “performing the archives” for multiple contexts: The art world, academia, community and the media. I am particularly interested in connecting with a new generation of audience members who may not have been exposed to the history of my generation, performance art and the Chicano movement.”
– Guillermo Gómez-Peña
Gómez-Peña was awarded SFAC’s Artistic Legacy Grant, in acknowledgment of years of service as an artistic director and artist in San Francisco.
Money well spent, in a Cathedral reimagined for the arts.
In case you missed it, here is an evening with the San Francisco art community at St. Joseph’s Art Society, produced by Emma Tramposch & Justin Hoover, as seen through the lens of Photographer Vita Hewitt.
Death, Art, and Ecosexuals at Church in San Francisco
At church in San Francisco, you find nuns washing feet,
You find sisters of perpetual indulgence,
You find performative death and grief.
You find Ecosexuxals,
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Dykes on Bikes,
And punctured hearts,
You find ballerinas dancing to death,
And friars riding coffins.
You find sword dancers,
Sermons,
Gorgeous art installations by Tiffanie Turner,
And the neon of Meryl Pataky.
You find the art, living in our city.
Pocha Nostra 2024: Living Dioramas for a Museum of the Future
Featured Performers:
Balitronica
The EcoSexuals
Sarah Stolar
Pita Zapot
Francesca Carol Rolla
Justin Hoover
Bob Webb
Violeta Luna
Juan Ybarra
To find out about future performances at St. Joseph’s, become a member here.
You can read our coverage of The Ecosexuals here.
To find more Pocha Nostra, follow them @lapochanostra or visit them here.
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