Smoke: Self-Portrait, 1985
Jimmy DeSana (1949-1990), a key figure in the New York downtown scene of the 1970s and 80s, created a body of photography that evinces a singular style typified by concealed figures, saturated colors, and surreal mise-en-scène, with subject matter that index the artist’s fascination with American suburbia and queer fetish subculture in equal measure. Throughout his career, DeSana seamlessly blended the tropes of fashion photography, camp sensibility, and experimental art, resulting in images that are simultaneously relatable in their use of quotidian settings, yet entirely otherworldly in their depiction. DeSana grew up in Atlanta, GA, and received his bachelor’s degree from the Georgia State University in 1972 before relocating to New York’s East Village in the early 1970s. Recent solo exhibitions include Jimmy DeSana: Submission at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, 2023, accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Brooklyn Museum and DelMonico Books; The Sodomite Invasion: Experimentation, Politics and Sexuality in the work of Jimmy DeSana and Marlon T. Riggs, Griffin Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada, 2020; and Remainders, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY, 2016. DeSana’s work can be found in numerous public collections including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. Ruin of Rooms, a major two-person exhibition of the work of Jimmy DeSana and Paul P., at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, was on view in 2024. DeSana's work was recently on view in Strip, a group exhibition with Carolee Schneemann and Martha Wilson, at P·P·O·W.
Jimmy DeSana
b. 1949, Detroit, MI
d. 1990, New York, NY
Education
1972 Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Select Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions
2026
Jimmy DeSana & Paul Mpagi Sepuya, DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL
2025
Laurie Simmons & Jimmy DeSana: amigos, parceiros, cúmplices, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
Jimmy DeSana, Amanda Wilkinson, London, UK
101 Nudes, CLAMP, New York, NY
2024
Jimmy DeSana: Subversions, Meyer Riegger, Seoul, South Korea
Jimmy DeSana & Paul P., Ruins of Rooms, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2023
Jimmy DeSana, Meyer-Riegger, Berlin, Germany
Jimmy DeSana: Suburban, Document, Chicago, IL
The Dungeon Series, 1978-79, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2022
Jimmy DeSana: Submission, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
2019
Jimmy DeSana and the Sex Appeal of the Inorganic, Amanda Wilkinson, London, UK
2017
Jimmy De Sana: Late Work, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, NY
2016
xavierlaboulbenne, Berlin, Germany
Still Lives: Jimmy DeSana and Hanna Liden, Salon 94, New York, NY
Jimmy DeSana, Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
Jimmy DeSana: Remainders, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY
2013
Party Picks, Salon 94 Bowery, New York, NY
2009
Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
2008
101 Nudes, Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
2007
101 Nudes, White Columns, New York, NY
1997
Selected Works 1979 – 1985, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, NY
1995
A Selected Survey of Photographs, 1970 – 1990, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, NY
1989
Galerie Jablonka, Cologne, Germany
1988
Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, NY
1987
Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, NY
1986
CCD, Düsseldorf, Denmark
1984
Oggi Domanii, New York, NY
Oae Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1983
R. Appleton, Aspen, CO
1982
Stefanotti/Bonlow, New York, NY
1981
Galerie Jacques de Windt, Brussels, Belgium
Museum of the Twentieth Century, Vienna, Austria
CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1980
Galleria Trisorio, Naples, Italy
Stefanotti, New York, NY
1979
Stefanotti, New York, NY
Select Group Exhibitions
2026
Strip, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
From the other end of the hallway, Workplace, London, UK
Cocktail Prolongé: Works from the F.C. Gundlach Collection, House of Photography, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
2025
ECHO DELAY REVERB: American Art and Francophone Thought, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Hard Art: Unruly Selections from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Museum of Sex, Miami, FL
I have become my own worst fear, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
Hubba Hideout, Club Rhubarb – Canada, New York, NY
Erotic City, Eric Firestone Gallery, New York, NY
a field of bloom and hum, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
2024
La Fontaine de la Mort, Meyer Riegger & Galerie Mueller, Basel, Switzerland
Notes on Masculinity, Lyles & King, New York, NY
2023
Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, CA
Jimmy DeSana, Ana Jotta, Artur Varela, Ampersand at SYSTEMA, Marseilles, France
Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Jimmy DeSana & Sofia Montanha, Ampersand, Lisbon, Portugal
Luxe, Calme, Volupté, Candice Madey, New York, NY
Taylor Davis Selects: Invisible Ground of Sympathy, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
In First Person Plural, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO), Rome, Italy
Faces II, Hal Bromm Gallery, New York, NY
Tender Loving Care, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2022
Somewhere Downtown, UCCA, Beijing, China
Jimmy Desana and Laurie Simmons: Double Trouble, Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
2021
Ray Johnson, David Zwirner, New York, NY
2020
Radical Passivity: Politics of the Flesh, neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
The Sodomite Invasion: Experimentation Politics and Sexuality in the work of Jimmy DeSana and Marlon T. Riggs, Griffin Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada
All of Them Witches, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Maskulinitäten, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
Kiss My Genders, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
Art after Stonewall, 1969 – 1989, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY
A Look Back: 50 Years After Stonewall, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY
The Fabric of Felicity, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
Last Night I Wore A Costume, LX Arts, New York, NY
MOMA Reopening Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2018
DRAG: Self-portraits and Body Politics, HENI Project Space, London, UK
2016
Gesture Play, Simone Subal Gallery, New York, NY
Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, London, UK
The 1970s: The Blossoming of a Queer Enlightenment, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY
2015
Greater New York, MoMA PS1, New York, NY
Walks and displacements, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY
The Downtown Decade: NYC 1975 – 1985, Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, New York, NY
Queer Fantasy, OHWOW Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014
VICE Photo Show: Trompe-L’Oeil, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY
2013
DeSana Flavin, Home Alone 2 Gallery, New York, NY
Glam! The Performance of Style, Tate Liverpool, UK
2012
This Will Have Been: Art, Love, & Politics in the 1980’s, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
2010
Off the Wall: Part 1 – Thirty Performative Actions, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
2009
Looking at Music: Side 2, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2008
Eat the Document, curated by Dean Daderko, Larissa Goldston Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Blow Both of Us, curated by Shannon Ebner and Adam Putnam, Participant Inc, New York, NY
2004
East Village USA, organized by Dan Cameron, New Museum, New York, NY
2000
Nocturnal Dream Show, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, NY
Selections of Artist Names Beginning with ‘D’, Sandra Gehring Gallery, curated by Bob Nickas, New York, NY
1997
Twenty Year Anniversary, Hal Bromm Gallery, New York, NY
1996
100 Photographs, American Fine Arts Co., New York, NY
The Cool & The Crazy, Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, NY
1992
Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, Art Center College of Art & Design, Los Angeles, CA
The Sexual Self, Galerie Tanja Grunert, Cologne, Germany
1991
The Interrupted Life, New Museum, New York, NY
Simon Watson Gallery, New York NY
1990
Photomodern: Issues in Photography, Atlanta, GA
Hollywoodland, fiction/non-fiction, New York, NY
Against Interpretation, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1989
Galerie Schurr, Stuttgart, Germany
Abstraction in Contemporary Photography, Hamilton College, Emerson Gallery, Clinton, NY
Double Take, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH
Erotophobia, Simon Watson Gallery, New York, NY
Assumed Identities, Zoe Gallery, Boston, MA
The Photography of Invention, American Pictures of the 1980s, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Marta Cevera Gallery, New York, NY
1988
Fred Dorfman Gallery, New York, NY
Fantasy or Reality, Salon des Artists, New York, NY
The Photo Ostensive, Jayne Baum Gallery, New York, NY
1987
Poetic Injury, Alternative Museum, New York, NY
1986
Staging the Self: Photography 1840 through 1985, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
1985
American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy
Blow Up, Feature Inc, New York, NY
Psycho Pueblo, Vijande, Madrid, Spain
1984
Bank of America Corporate Headquarters, San Francisco, CA
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Galarie Stampa, Basel, Switzerland
Lower East Side, Santa Barbara, CA
Nature Morte, New York, NY
The New Portraits, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
Lower East Side, Artist Space, New York, NY
1983
3-D, Castelli Graphics, New York, NY
Subculture, Group Material, New York, NY
Terminal Show, New York, NY
Franklin Furnace, New York, NY
State University of New York, Brockport, NY
1982
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Grand Rapids Museum of Art, Grand Rapids, MI
Madison Arts Center, Madison, WI
New Figuration in America, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Commodities Corporation Collection, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Image Scavenger, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
New York State Museum, Albany, NY
Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, NY
General Mills Corporate Headquarters, Minneapolis, MN
1981
New York, New Wave, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
Kenneth Anger Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Eight Contemporary Photographers, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Couches, Diamonds, and Pie, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
Out Art, C.A.G.E., Cincinnati, OH
Pictures and Promises, The Kitchen, New York, NY
Love Is Blind, Castelli Graphics, New York, NY
Auto Portraits, Museum of Modern Art, Paris, France
Rutgers University, Rutgers, NJ
1980
Movin’, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Times Square Show, New York, NY
Dubbed in Glamour, The Kitchen, New York, NY
The Animal Show, Stefanotti, New York, NY
Collaborative Projects Benefit, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, NY
1979
Food and Pleasure, City Center, New York, NY
Floating Foundation of Photography Manifesto, New York, NY
Artist Postcard Show, Musee d’art Modern (Arc), Paris, France
Steffanotti, New York, NY
1978
File 13, New York, NY
Batman Show, New York, NY
Income and Wealth, New York, NY
Punk Art Exhibition, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
1977
Image Bank Postcard Show, Vancouver, Canada
Select Bibliography
2025
Martineau, Paul and Ryan Linkof. Queer Lens: A History of Photography. Getty Publications, Los Angeles, CA. Illus. pp. 226.
Edelheit, Martha. Erotic City (exh. catalog). Eric Firestone Gallery, New York, NY. 2025. Illus. pp. 52.
Brenda Miller: Works from the 70’s. Zurcher Gallery, New York, NY, 2025. Illus. pp. 128-29, back cover.
2024
Gruijthuijsen, Krist, Jimmy DeSana and Paul P. Ruins of Rooms, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2024.
2023
Madey, Candice, et al. Luxe, Calme, Volupté. SJ Weiler Press; Candice Madey New York, 2023. Illus. pp 46, 49.
Donato, Claire. Kind Mirrors, Ugly Ghosts. Archway Editions, 2023 (cover image).
Dirks, Von Hilka. “Ikone der New Yorker Subkultur: Großer Auftritt für die Körperbilder von Jimmy DeSana in Berlin.” Tagesspiegel, December 11.
Handelman, Michelle, et al. “Lust, Kink, and the Emancipatory Potential of BDSM.” Texte Zur Kunst, no. 132, December 2023, illus. pp. 168.
Desire: When You Step Over the Line, the Line Becomes You. Notes on Oisín Byrne and Jimmy DeSana, Paris Internationale 2023. Brewer Street Press, 2023.
2022
Dorris, Jesse. “Jimmy DeSana’s Transgressive Vision of Life and Desire.” Aperture, December 14.
Aletti, Vince. “A Counterculture Chronicler Gets His Due.” The New Yorker, December 2022.
Lubow, Arthur. “Jimmy DeSana, Downtown Pioneer and Provocateur, Goes Mainstream, The New York Times, November 8.
Belknap, John. “Portfolio: Jimmy DeSana and Terrence Sellers.” Artforum, November 2022.
2021
Fusi, Lorenzo, et al. The Sodomite Invasion: Experimentation, Politics and Sexuality in the Work of Jimmy Desana and Marlon T. Riggs. Griffin Art Projects, 2021.
2019
Barcena, Bryan. “Suburban/Submission.” Foam Magazine, September 2019.
2017
Simmons, William J. “Surreal Sexuality.” Aperture, January 18
2016
Schwendener, Martha. “Jimmy DeSana and Hanna Liden. ‘Still Lives.’” New York Times, June 17.
Hudson, Mark. “Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, review: ‘an intriguing snapshot of performance art’.” The Telegraph, February 16.
2015
Munro, Cait, Simmons, William J. “Jimmy DeSana.” Aperture, Spring 2015.
2013
Rutland, Beau. “Jimmy DeSana.” ARTFORUM, October.
McCormick, Carlo. “Jimmy DeSana: Party Picks: 1975-1987.” Photograph, September.
“Purple Visual Essay.” Purple Fashion, Fall/ Winter 2013.
Johnson, Ken. “Jimmy DeSana: Party Picks.” New York Times, August.
McCormick, Carlo. “Party Picks: Estate of Jimmy DeSana.” Photograph, July 26.
“Jimmy DeSana.” New Yorker, July.
“Critics Picks.” Time Out New York, June.
“My DeSana.” NY Arts Magazine, June.
Sherwin, Skye. “In Pictures | Jimmy De Sana: Suburban Color Sex Pictures.” AnOther Magazine, May 3.
Spencer, Corinna. “Jimmy De Sana: Suburban Color Sex Pictures.” Garageland Magazine, May 1.
Peer, Brendan. “Jimmy De Sana: Suburban Color Sex Pictures.” Used Magazine, May 11.
“Jimmy De Sana at Wilkinson Gallery, London.” Aesthetica, May.
Brown, Mark. “Glam! When piggy met Ziggy: Tate Liverpool traces art of the early 70s.” The Guardian, February.
“Jimmy De Sana: In Memoriam.” Le Journal de la Photographie, February.
Searle, Adrian. “Glam! at Tate Liverpool: through a mirrorball darkly.” The Guardian, February.
Fateman, Johanna. “Discipline- The Lost Collaboration of Terence Sellers and Jimmy De Sana.” Apology, Winter.
2010
Manfellotto, Michelle. “(SHE).” Nero Magazine, October.
2009
Sherwin, Skye. “Pick of the Week.” The Guardian Guide, December.
Simmons, Laurie. A Magazine, curated by Prenzlouer Shoer, June.
Giddins, Tom. “Jimmy De Sana.” Dazed and Confused, June.
2008
Williams, Gilda. “Jimmy De Sana.” Artforum, August.
Cotter, Holland. “Last Chance: Eat the Document.” The New York Times, February 22.
“Short List: Eat the Document.” The New Yorker, February 25.
2007
McClemont, Doug. “Blow Both of Us at Participant Inc.” Daily Magazine, January 26.
Cornell, Lauren, “Blow Both of Us.” Time Out New York, No. 591, January, pp 25-31.
2004
Smith, Roberta. “Looking Back at the Flurry on the Far Side.” The New York Times, December 10.
Deitcher, David. “Spiritual America: David Deitcher on pre- teenspirit (Popisms).” Artforum, October.
1995
Bourdon, David. “Jimmy de Sana at Pat Hearn - Review of Exhibitions.” Art in America, November.
Hainly, Bruce. Artforum, No. 3, Vol. XXXIV, November, pp 90-91.
Eckoff, Sally. “Jimmy De Sana: A Selected Survey at Pat Hearn Gallery.” Time Out, October, pp 18-25.
Hagen, Charles. “The Provocative Work of an Abbreviated Life.” The New York Times, September 29.
Morin, France. The Interrupted Life. New York, The New Museum of Contemporary Art. Exhibition catalogue.
1991
Adams, Brooks. “Grotesque Photography.” The Print Collector’s Newsletter, Vol. 6, January/February.
Grundberg, Andy. “Critic”s Choice.” The New York Times, January 4.
1990
“Artistic Voices are Many.” The Atlanta Journal, September 15.
Simmons, Laurie, Journal of Contemporary Art, Spring/Summer.
1989
G.Roger Denson, Arts, ‘The Mirroring Enigmas’, May.
1988
Smith, P.C. Art in America, November.
Smith, Roberta. The New York Times, January 29.
Lathem, Alexis. 108 Review, January.
1986
Cortez, Diego. Wolkenkratzer, September.
1985
Pincus-Witten, R. Psycho Pueblo, November.
1983
Cohen, Ronnie. Print Collector’s Newsletter, May.
Wanning, Virginia. Omni, March.
Moufarrege, Nick. Flash Art, January.
Cohen, Ronnie. Art News, January.
1982
Lawson, Thomas. Artforum, December.
Ricard, Rene. Artforum, December.
Smith, Roberta.Village Voice, October.
Tatransky, Valentine. Arts, March.
1981
Cohen, Ronnie. Artforum.
Bannon, Victor. Buffalo News, December.
Flood Richard. Artforum, Summer.
Tatransky, Valentine. Cover, Summer.
Tatransky, Valentine. Arts, June.
Grundberg, Andy. The New York Times, May.
Lifson, Ben. The Village Voice, May.
Rose, Frank. Esquire, April.
O’Brien, Glenn. Interview, April.
Smith, Roberta. Art in America, January.
1980
Pincus-Witten, R. Arts, September.
Tatransky, Valentine. Art, February.
Tatransky, Valentine. Flash Art, February.
1979
Robinson, Walter. Adix, October.
Public Collections
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Jimmy DeSana
Aluminum Foil #4, Self-Portrait, 1985
vintage C-print
10 x 8 inches
25.4 x 20.3 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Cowboy Boots, 1984
vintage C-print
19 × 12 3/4 ins.
48.3 × 32.4 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Towel, 1985
cibachrome
16 3/4 x 14 3/4 ins.
42.6 x 37.5 cm
Jimmy DeSana
William Burroughs, 1981
C-print
20 x 13 1/2 ins.
50.8 x 34.3 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Instant Camera, 1980
vintage C-print
15 1/8 x 23 ins.
38.4 x 58.4 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Extension Cord, 1979
vintage C-print
16 x 12 ins.
40.6 x 30.5 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Party Picks, 1981
C-print
34 x 50 ins.
86.4 x 127 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Submission (Panty Hose), 1979
vintage black and white gelatin print
9 1/2 x 6 3/8 ins.
24.1 x 16.2 cm
Jimmy DeSana
Sweatshirt, 1980-82
vintage C-print
28 1/4 x 38 3/8 ins.
71.8 x 97.5 cm
On display at P·P·O·W through July 31, Strip does not simply show the body exposed. It is fragmented, doubled, dispersed, or swallowed by the photographic image itself.
The exhibition pairs the work of two distinctive voices, resulting in a generative exhibition drenched in intimacy, connectedness and truth.
As galleries from all over the world arrive in London for an action-packed programme of collaborative exhibitions, we take a look at some of the not-to-miss highlights of Condo London 2025
The gallery-sharing event, spread across different parts of the UK capital, features participants from Guatemala, Lebanon, Los Angeles and more
Ruins of Rooms explores not just the relationship between their work but the conceptual echoes between their generations.
A new exhibition in Berlin pairs the work of Jimmy DeSana and Paul P, two artists who pushed at the limits of photography and depicted queer desire in new and unconventional ways
While Jimmy DeSana was on his deathbed in 1990, he asked Laurie Simmons to oversee his estate. Since 2013, Danielle Bartholomew and I have helped her care for Jimmy’s work. For us, as artists, this labor is just as important as the time we spend on our own practices.
Ruins of Rooms is an ode to a lost generation and the conclusion of my program at KW, through which I sought to advocate for the marginalized, the overlooked and the radical.
New book ‘Jimmy DeSana: Salvation’ sees the artist’s final series finally published, offering an intimate look at the life of the DeSana’s inner life as he confronted the shadow of death.
From inspiring exhibitions by Catherine Opie, Penny Slinger and Lonnie Holley, to tantalising new restaurant openings, here’s what we’re looking forward to this month.
The artist’s first solo exhibition in Chicago raises questions about how queer people want or are allowed to exist in certain spaces.
Art history is filled with nakedness. To be specific, it’s filled with naked women depicted by men.
A queer photographer’s work ranges from the everyday to abstraction.
New York City offers some of the best art exhibits in the entire world. From contemporary art to immersive experiences, you'll be sure to find something that will catch your eye.
Jimmy DeSana’s work remains transgressive, even by today’s standards.
This first museum survey of the important but often overlooked work of photographer Jimmy DeSana (1949–1990) traces his prolific career through nearly 200 works spanning more than 20 years, showcasing his underground aesthetic and his resistance to dominant narratives about the body and sexuality during the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
From Alice Neels’ hotly anticipated London retrospective, to Portia Munson’s famed pink bedroom in New York, we select the must-see exhibitions from around the world
Jimmy DeSana: Submission at the Brooklyn Museum highlights the work of a talented but lesser-known photographer, artist, and LGBTQ advocate.
A Brooklyn Museum retrospective of Jimmy DeSana’s erotic, compulsive, gender-fluid work makes a case for his ongoing relevance.
The New York artist’s work was so ahead of the curve that it has been largely overlooked — until now.
A long-awaited retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum celebrates the photographer’s work while avoiding the self-congratulatory drama of a rescue mission.
A trailblazing queer photographer who embodied the grit of 1970s and ’80s NYC gets the retrospective he deserves at Brooklyn Museum
Disquieting, transgressive and often darkly comic, the New York artist’s photographs urged viewers to see the naked form in a new light
From Jimmy DeSana’s radical nudes to the unsung women of Atlanta’s hip hop scene, we round up the best art and photography exhibitions to catch this month
DeSana's work refuses to present coherent identities even as it pictures aspects of sexuality that remain culturally repressed, rejecting photography’s claim to truth as a tool of social control. Instead, through technical manipulation and distortion, DeSana prompts us to take a closer look at ourselves.
Jimmy DeSana: Submission at Brooklyn Museum celebrates an irreverent LGBTQ artist’s career.
Highlights include Jimmy DeSana’s photographs of 1970s downtown New York, Hedda Sterne’s intricate drawings from the 1960s, and new immersive work by David Hockney
Fair will exhibit works by Jimmy DeSana and Barbara Ess, largely forgotten artists who were contemporaries of Robert Mapplethorpe
Simmons has been in charge of the estate of her close friend and former roommate for more than 30 years.
The colorful legacy of Downtown dynamo Jimmy DeSana comes to light in the new Brooklyn Museum exhibition.
As the late artist’s work – which mixed queer aesthetics and sexual liberation in the 1970s and 1980s – is celebrated in a retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, artist Laurie Simmons and curator Drew Sawyer speak on his legacy
The photographer moved effortlessly between scenes: No Wave music, performance, queer subcultures, downtown nightlife, the Pictures Generation and mail art.
In print for the first time are inspired scenes of bondage, discipline, dominance, and subjection from Jimmy DeSana’s 1978 series “The Dungeon.”
Your list of must-see, fun, insightful, and very New York art events this month, including the Latin American Art Triennial, Baldwin Lee, Triton Mobley, and more.
Highlights include grand retrospectives of Alex Katz and Wolfgang Tillmans, a titanic assembly of van Gogh and a celebration of the pioneering Just Above Midtown gallery.
In amassing work made by the mostly overlooked gay artists who lived and died during the crisis, a global group of collectors is redefining what the Western canon looks like.
Laurie Simmons and Drew Sawyer discuss the late artist’s AIDS-era collages in a portfolio for Document’s tenth anniversary
As their joint show opens in London, American artist Laurie Simmons tells us about the New York studio she shared with the late artist Jimmy DeSana, and why his work “becomes more extraordinary” with time
The poet and cultural critic Wayne Koestenbaum gives ekphrastic interpretations to works by the late proto-punk and queer photographer Jimmy DeSana.
Commemorating what would have been the artist’s 71st birthday this month, Blind Magazine looks back at the life and times of an underground art radical.
In his staged, gel-lit nudes, Jimmy DeSana explored the body as object.
Despite the rise to prominence of so-called good postmodern artists like Nan Goldin and Cindy Sherman, however, there are still plenty of photographers being rediscovered today. One of them is Jimmy DeSana, who died in 1990 at the age of 40 from AIDS-related causes.
Fully exploiting a photograph’s potential to be both fact and fiction, DeSana's works delve into the vagaries of the human heart and the human psyche, taking us with them.
The feeling of incompleteness that hangs over the retrospective of photographs by Jimmy DeSana, now at the Pat Hearn Gallery in Chelsea, is easy to explain.
