JJ Holding Head as Hair Flies While Dancing with JudiJupiter, Studio 54, NY, NY, July 1977.
1970s New York is a unique time in the city’s history; blackouts, crime, financial problems — the Big Apple was at a relatively low ebb. But for photographers, it was a rich resource.
Photographer Meryl Meisler says she had an epiphany while standing beneath a disco ball at a dance club in Bushwick. It was at that moment she realized that her photos of nightclubs and humble streetcorners could be shown together to tell the complex story of New York City.
And now, Meisler is having her first retrospective at CLAMP Gallery in the Flower District of the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan.
Hurrah, NY, NY, March 1978Guys at Christopher Street Pier, NY, NY April 1978.Handshake, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, September 1982.Roller Skates, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, 1984.Boy in Tire, Bushwick Brooklyn, 1984.Coli, Playmate Hostess, NY, NY, December 1978.Jive Guy on Williamsburg Subway, March 1978.
Meisler’s photos are chaotic and outrageous, full of big personalities. She does not shy away from the absurd and joyful, viewing the world through her “queer, quirky eye.”
Meisler was a public school teacher for 31 years and has only just begun revealing her extensive photo archive after she retired in 2010.
Amanda Lepore on her Birthday, Bartschland, Working Girls Holiday Special.Self-Portrait, My Childhood Mirror, Woodstock, August 2023.Two Queens, One Blonde, One Brunette, COYOTE Hookers Masquerade Ball, CopaCabana, February 14, 1977.Mom Getting her hair Teased at Besame Beauty Salon North Massapequa, NY, June 1976.Women Embrace on Floor Near JudiJupiter’s Legs Les Mouches, NY, NY, June 1978.Self-Portrait, Playmate Hostess, NY, NY, December 1978.My favorite Jewish Mother, Sylvia Frances Schulman Meisler reading on Thanksgiving Evening, 1978.Dallas Performs near Mirrors, Hurrah Wild Wild West Party, NY, NY, March 1978Love in Bloom G-d Bless America Henry Street Settlement Good Companions Senior Center 1978.MC Murray Hill with Jacket Overhead, The Big Drag King Show, 3 Dollar Bill, Brooklyn, NY, June 2023.The Village People Stepping Out of the Grand Ballroom New York, NY, June 1978.
Her photos are not just party folks dancing hard at Studio 54. Meisler’s retrospective also includes photographs taken recently as well as personal photos of herself and her mom.
Simply Scintillating: A Retrospective will be at CLAMP gallery until November 4. For more information, visit the gallery’s website.
