FORMAT: Flexi, 7 x 9.5 in. / 416 pgs / 88 color / 45 b&w.
LIST PRICE: U.S. $55.00
LIST PRICE: CANADA $79
ISBN: 9788862088169
PUBLISHER: Damiani
AVAILABLE: 5/21/2024
DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P.
RETAILER DISC: TRADE
PUBLISHING STATUS: Forthcoming
AVAILABILITY: Awaiting stock
TERRITORY: NA LA

D.A.P. CATALOG: SPRING 2024 Page 48

PRESS INQUIRIES

Tel: (212) 627-1999 ext 217
Fax: (212) 627-9484
Email Press Inquiries: publicity@dapinc.com

TRADE RESALE ORDERS

D.A.P. | DISTRIBUTED ART PUBLISHERS
Tel: (212) 627-1999
Fax: (212) 627-9484
Customer Service: (800) 338-2665
Email Trade Sales: orders@dapinc.com

We Started a Nightclub
The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It

Published by Damiani.
By Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas.

Performers, barbacks, doormen and DJs reminisce on the East Village club that galvanized New York’s alternative scene

What Studio 54 was for disco, the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge was for the alternative scene of 1980s downtown New York. Located at 101 Avenue A, the Pyramid offered a mixture of cultures: from groundbreaking, irreverent theater and experimental music to “anti-drag” that challenged the norms of gender binaries. It began in 1981 when the East Village was considered a dangerous no man’s land, rents were cheap, AIDS was still unknown and a new generation of creators broke the mold and went on to make art in an atmosphere of unbridled celebration. Theme nights and bar dancers, fixtures of the downtown avant-garde and kids escaping their past all added to the club’s popularity. At the Pyramid, John Jesurun and Ann Magnuson rubbed elbows with They Might Be Giants, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and 3 Teens Kill 4, who shared a stage with Lady Bunny and Hapi Phace. By offering a home to obscure, genre-defying and unpolished acts, the Pyramid played a crucial role in shaping the city’s underground cultural scene for decades to come. In 2021, the Pyramid closed permanently. Though the venue was no longer the hotspot of its early years, its closure prompted an outpouring of reminiscence and mourning for a bygone era, amid a broad renewed interest in the art and culture of 1980s New York.

"We Started a Nightclub" is an inside look at the cultural history of the East Village in the early 1980s. The project, which began in 2006, represents the only in-depth exploration of the Pyramid’s origins. An oral history comprising more than 75 interviews, it covers the early years of the Pyramid from the time of its founding through its rise, near demise and rebirth. The book includes previously unpublished photos, flyers and other ephemera, as well as excerpts from more than 50 press releases written between 1983 and 1986.

VIEW MORE ONLINE AT: https://www.artbook.com/9788862088169.html