CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/16/2022

Tom of Finland Store c/o CULTUREEDIT presents Matthew Leifheit and Jeremy Atherton Lin on 'To Die Alive'

Saturday, July 16, from 5–8PM, Tom of Finland Store c/o CULTUREEDIT presents the Los Angeles launch of Matthew Leifheit: To Die Alive. Photographer Matthew Leifheit will appear in conversation with noted essayist and memoirist Jeremy Atherton Lin at 6PM.

Featuring 77 color photographs and a faux leather cover, To Die Alive portrays Fire Island's world of desire and its layers of history: the Ice Palace bar's infamous underwear party, the men-only Belvedere Guesthouse, clandestine encounters in the Meat Rack, and landscapes in all seasons of the island's delicate maritime forest. The wide-ranging subjects of Matthew Leifheit's portraits reflect the intergenerational community who come to the island for refuge or employment, ranging from weekend visitors to sugar daddies to bartenders and sex workers. Tinged with sadness, the book's climax mixes feelings of pleasure with desperation and loss. As homosexuality gains mainstream acceptance, many queer Americans no longer need to go to geographic extremes like Fire Island, Provincetown, Palm Springs or Key West to express themselves. But what is the cost of assimilation? To Die Alive is both romantic and grotesque, challenging the sun-bleached history of homoerotic representation on this fragile island, which itself is under constant threat of erosion by the sea.

To Die Alive Launch, Los Angeles
Tom of Finland Store c/o CULTUREEDIT Gallery
Saturday, July 16, 2022
5–8PM
1105 N El Centro Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038