In the long history of alternative comics, few works are as venerated, or as underseen, as Saga de Xam, the legendary French graphic novel by Nicholas Devil and Jean Rollin. Originally published in 1967 in limited quantities, the book earned a devoted cult following for its innovative psychedelic visuals and avant-garde sensibilities, even as it … Continued

JEB (Joan E. Biren) first introduced viewers to her photographs in 1979 when she published Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, a groundbreaking celebration of women loving women. In the years that followed, JEB collaborated with poets, musicians, filmmakers, elected officials, healthcare providers, factory workers, spiritual leaders, and others who built communities and worked for … Continued

The internet as we know it is not a foregone conclusion. Indeed, the present corporatized, monolithic, surveilled state of our networked communications is just one possibility out of many, and there is radical promise in uncovering hidden alternatives: from pirate radio to barbed wire telegraph, from synthesizers transmitted over the telephone to encoded messages bounced … Continued

In 1975, more than a decade into a career that would establish him as one of the most innovative children’s book authors of his time, artist and illustrator Ed Emberley followed the gothic woodcuts of his previous book, Suppose You Met a Witch, with a complete left turn: the story of a prince turned into … Continued

For one day at the end of each summer between 1994 and 2000, Ralph Hopkins and the community transformed Riis Beach (aka the People’s Beach), New York City’s oldest public gay beach, into a vibrant and otherworldly fashion event. Ralph worked alongside friends, designers, and models from the storied queer sanctuary to create joyful spectacles … Continued

Since 2019, graphic novelist Brian Blomerth’s stunningly original comix histories have combined detailed research and riotous visual wit to illuminate the discovery of LSD (in Brian Blomerth’s Bicycle Day) and the popularization of psilocybin mushrooms (in Brian Blomerth’s Mycelium Wassonii). Now, in the third entry in his ongoing series, Blomerth opens a porthole on the … Continued

In 2004, well before the advent of social media as a global phenomenon, photographer Patrick O’Dell launched the celebrated blog Epicly Later’d. Dedicated to documenting the adventure and mayhem of the NYC skate/music/downtown scene, the site distinguished itself with its offhand wit, its irreverent cast of characters, and an intimate photo-diary format years ahead of … Continued

Originally published in limited quantities in 1981, Halloween: A Fantasy in Three Acts collects photographs taken by Ken Werner at San Francisco’s adult Halloween celebrations from 1976 to 1980, assembling a visual narrative of American consciousness and popular culture as seen through lenses of queerness, black humor, and the macabre. Once touted as the “Mardi … Continued

For decades, photographer Kate Sterlin has made an artistic practice of examining the boundaries between individual, family, and community. In her first book, Still Life: Photographs & Love Stories, she delivers a meditation on love and its ability to weather the brutal specificities of life, death, family and race in America. Pairing intimate photographs with … Continued

Over the past decade, artist Emma Kohlmann has harnessed the expressive possibilities of watercolor to develop an astonishing and intimate practice. In the resounding fluidity of her paintings, Kohlmann maps the lineaments and concavities of embodied moments with exquisite sensitivity, celebrating a sensuality freed from analysis and disabusing gender and the human body of their … Continued