Snow Queen (9)
2003, c-print, 11 × 17 inches

For those in the DC area, or those that feel like visiting, Joe Ovelman has a show at Conner Contemporary opening March 4 and running through March 26.

From the press release:

Within gay culture the slang term snow queen typically refers to a black man who only dates white men. However, for Joe Ovelman the term is used more literally. His recent photographic series depicts the artist, dressed in his grandmother's white stag coat and glamour drag, in wild abandon on a snowy night in the notorious 'rambles' of New York's Central Park. The images possess both the candidness found in Lisette Model's socialites and the campy absurdity of John Waters.

If you are interested in the details of the piece, I was told by Joe that it was shot in a single night by himself with a tripod. Amazing.

We are big, big fans of Joe's work, having purchased the first piece he ever sold, and staying friends with him ever since. We own a couple of pieces from the Snow Queen series, including the one above. Ours is from an edition that is of larger dimension that this one.

For those readers that have visited our apartment, Joe did the Marine Corps Uniform- c1970 work in our entry hallway. Ours is the study for the final version.

I am impressed with Conner. Last year they showed a series, 17 Strangers, that was never shown in a New York Gallery.

Updated

I just remembered that a short-lived gallery in the Hotel Chelsea showed 17 Strangers, but I doubt a huge number of people saw it there, unfortunately.

Updated Again

Oops. We just looked at our Ovelman prints. A friend owns the one above, and we own two others from the series.