Ideal + Reality

Adobe Backroom Gallery, San Fransisco. 2020

 

An installation of  paintings, prints, and textiles by Leonard Reidelbach. Opulent pattern and figurative imagery reflect moments of queer and trans community, cruising, and connection. 

 

A painting told in POV of the moment of lez pulling up a net. Crabbing  as togetherness, sustainability, and autonomy. A pool house from my POV as a production assistant at a porn shoot. An edition of silkscreens where each layer is varied in a choose- your- own- adventure vibe. Variation and repetition in the party.  A wallpaper using  a design inspired by a floral arrangement that Nicole Shaffer built for a queer bathhouse party in Fall 2019. The arrangement functioned not only as a lavish decorative element but also to physically separate bathers from the heterosexual front desk worker.  

 

As a reception, the artist, along with a group of collaborators will assemble at the gallery for a performative picnic scene. lez md designs and executes a multi-course meal with foraged culinary delights. Models Maryama X and Titania Kumeh experience these pleasures at the creative direction of Angel Castelleon. Nicole Shaffer's floral sculptures embellish the setting. Photo documentation by Rich Lomi. This event closed to the public. 

 

With deep collaboration and conceptual leadership from lez md, the Picnic Show is a prototype for a collective spirit refuting capitalism. It is a luxury experience that cannot be purchased and available for the people we chose. Presented in an opulent basket made of painted textiles and rich with foraged food, the bounty of the land and sea around us becomes political resistance. We use these (aspects of San Francisco nature) to celebrate our community and find new ways to connect in a hyper-digitalized age, during a pandemic.