Exquisite and explosive: Queens of the Pub
St Kilda is perhaps Melbourne’s most famous suburb, renowned for its irresistibly punky edge and shabby chic glamour. During the early 20th century it was the playground for the rich and famous, before it fell out of vogue in the late 1950s. Overlooked and long-forgotten, St Kilda was lovingly embraced by Melbourne’s migrants, artists and LGBTQI community. Collectively they revived it, endowing it with a spirit both richly diverse and cheekily irreverent.
Paying homage to this dynamic community, award-winning artists Gerard O’Connor and Marc Wasiak have developed a collection of costumes and photographic images that pack an exquisite and explosive punch. Entitled Queens of the Pub, the collection honours St Kilda’s famous drag queen scene, celebrating the very diversity of this community through polarising visuals.
Gerard is a photographer set and film maker, while Marc specialises in wardrobe, prop and set design. For this collection the duo has portrayed scenes from different eras, a recreation of the past – the thrill of excess and wanton pleasure, that speaks to our present – a much more liberal-minded reality.
In producing this collection of costumes and images the duo has left no stone unturned. Their cast is extensive (representing diverse ages, backgrounds, gender and sexual orientation), their costuming intricate, and their props expansive. Here, they have collected an array of materials: recycled bits and bobs scavenged from local pubs; seaside trash-turned-spectacular costumery; and glittering props lovingly salvaged from the very queens the collection depicts.
“Their scenes contain multiple narratives, distilling their ideas in a heady invention that trips the light fantastic between carny and critique, wit and wantonness, chaos and control,” says the exhibition’s curator Alasdair Foster.
For Gerard and Marc, Queens of the Pub has been the catalyst for an exciting new direction of work. “We have started our research and planning to capture a series of powerful dramatic, iconic photographic stills and films of the drag queens and transsexuals who still reside [in St Kilda] after many, many years,” they say.
“Honouring their power, strength, beauty and existence like Hollywood icons, they have made inner city suburbs the rich, unique, diverse places they are today. These girls were, and are, the superheroes from our past. However, their contribution has been lost over time.”
While many of us currently feel frozen in time, isolating from the world’s spreading pandemic, Gerard and Marc remain focused on what comes next. “We are really looking forward to taking off our masks and getting on with the art of making art,” they say.
Queens of the Pub is on show at Galerie pompom in Chippendale, Sydney, until 16 August 2020.
Collection by:
Gerard O’Connor and Marc Wasiak.
With thanks to:
Kim Tavares
Nigel Stanislaus
Lou Mclaren
Hannah Smith
Danielle Zanetti
Natasha Heal
Matthew Ryan
Phase One
Sun Studios
Fuji Australia
Kevin Cooper
City of Port Phillip
Eva Torks
Alida Milani
Sean Mulquiney
