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Hal Fischer
Street Fashion: Uniform, 1977/2016
Estimated Value: $2,500
Archival pigment print
30 x 24 inches
Framed
Edition 2/15
Signed, verso
Donated by anonymous.
Since 1977—when the first exhibition of the this series took place in San Francisco—Gay Semiotics series has been recognized as a unique and pioneering analysis of a gay historical vernacular and as an irreverent appropriation of structuralist theory.
Taken directly from Fischer’s personal experiences living in the vibrant gay communities of San Francisco’s Castro and Haight-Ashbury districts, Fischer’s photo-text deconstructions are laced with humor and a formal photographic aesthetic indebted as much to textbook and advertising images as it is to the photographs of August Sander.
Proud, unapologetic, humorous, and purposefully banal, the work drew immediate critical praise. In both its theoretical underpinnings and conceptual approach, Fischer’s work shows the influence of Lew Thomas, San Francisco photographer, and catalyst for a California-based photography and language movement. Gay Semiotics is recognized as one of the first conceptual works to bring the language of structuralism and linguistics into photographic practice.
About the Artist:
Hal Fischer
Over a career spanning four decades, Hal Fischer has been an artist, art critic, and museum professional. Fischer’s work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions and is featured in both public and private collections. In the 1970s, his reviews and articles on photography regularly appeared in such journals as Artweek, Artforum, and Afterimage. The recipient of NEA fellowships in both photography and criticism, in 1977 Fischer gained nonprofit status for San Francisco Camerawork and assembled that organization’s first volunteer board. In 1984, Fischer embarked on a career as an independent museum consultant. His practice included key long-term client associations, most notably the Timken Museum of Art, where he served as director of exhibitions and publications from 1985 to 2007, and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, where he directed special projects, including major international loan exhibitions and interpretive planning for the Asian Art Museum’s Civic Center home.
With the inclusion of his photographs in Under the Big Black Sun: California Art, 1974-81 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Fischer’s work came back into public view. Exhibitions of the Gay Semiotics series and a reprint of the 1978 monograph have renewed interest in his art and generated numerous articles, published interviews, and reviews. Hal Fischer: The Gay Seventies, published by Gallery 16 Editions, was published in Fall 2019.
Fisher’s work is currently on view as part of the Thought Pieces exhibition at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. https://www.sfmoma.org/event/hal-fischer-on-thought-pieces/
Website: www.gaysemiotics.com
