Hal Fischer: Gay Semiotics and other major works
Hal Fischer
Gay Semiotics and other major works
Gallery 3
15 November 2019 – 31 May 2020
Hal Fischer is an American artist who produced his most significant work in San Francisco in the late 1970s. He was one of the first artists to apply a conceptual approach to gay-themed photographs and GoMA was the first UK institution to acquire the iconic works Gay Semiotics alongside two other series – 18th near Castro St x 24 and Boy-Friends. These honest and groundbreaking works were created when gay men in San Francisco were celebrating gay liberation, despite the fact that homosexuality was still illegal in many US states. The AIDS epidemic of the 1980s would bring this era to an end.
Alongside these collections works Fischer installed a further loaned work – A Salesman – first shown on a billboard in 1979. After working as a photographer for about 10 years Hal Fischer focussed on his writing as an art critic for a number of years and went on to a 30-year-long career as a museum consultant. He also helped establish San Francisco Camerawork as a nonprofit gallery. The publication of Hal Fischer: The Gay Seventies coincided with the opening of this exhibition.
Glasgow Museums would like to thank:
Art Fund for their support for the acquisition of Gay Semiotics, and In Conversation with Hal Fischer as part of Art Talks with Art Fund, Hal Fischer and Project Native Informant