From the Art Canada Institute
The Art Canada Institute gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Title Sponsors of this book, Elizabeth K.P. Grace and an Anonymous donor, and the Season Sponsor, Power Corporation of Canada.
From the Author
I would like to extend a huge thanks to the members of Kiss & Tell, Persimmon Blackbridge, Emma Kivisild, and Susan Stewart, for their generous help with this project, and to Lorna Boschman for keeping, sharing, and digitizing all the videos. Thanks to David Kloepfer and Simon Fraser University Special Collections and Rare Books, Daniel Payne and The ArQuives, the BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, Artexte, and the Queer Arts Festival for allowing me to find so many gems within your collections. Thanks to Jenn Jackson and Or Gallery for your assistance and for providing such a welcoming space for my community lecture, to the Queer Arts Festival for including my talk in your programming, and to everyone who attended. It was a great pleasure to be an inaugural fellow in the Redefining Canadian Art History Program at the Art Canada Institute (ACI). I would not have been able to complete this project without the support and hard work of Jocelyn Anderson, Monique Johnson, Asna Adhami, Erin Silver, Emma Doubt, Sara Angel, and Victoria Nolte at ACI. I am especially grateful to my incredible fellow fellows, Alison Arris, Jennifer Bowen, and Sandrena Raymond, for getting over the bumps in the road together, and for all the laughs and friendship we have shared. I am so fortunate to have you three wonderful women in my life. A special thank you to Violet for all your encouragement and companionship, and for continually reassuring me that I could get this book written.
IMAGE SOURCES
Every effort has been made to secure permissions for all copyrighted material. The Art Canada Institute will gladly correct any errors or omissions.
The Art Canada Institute would like to thank the following for their assistance: Archives gaies du Québec (Simone Beaudry-Pilotte); The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives (Daniel Payne, Jordan Saroya and Raegan Swanson); Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Megan Feniak); The Broad Art Foundation; Buddies in Bad Times (Kristina Lemieux); Canada Council for the Arts (Martha Young); Carolee Schneemann Foundation (Rachel Helm); City of Vancouver Archives; Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Marie Chappaz); Laura Aguilar Trust (Christopher Velasco); Lehmann Maupin (Jacob Daugherty); Münchner Stadtmuseum; Simon Fraser University Library (David Kloepfer); Sprüth Magers (Monika Simm); University of Ottawa Library (Marie Noël); VINCE fine arts / ephemera (Vincent Hemphill); Walter Phillips Gallery (Megan Feniak); Western Front (Anna Tidlund); and Richard Banner; Persimmon Blackbridge; Lorna Boschman; Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan; Dyke Action Machine! (DAM!) (Carrie Moyer and Sue Schaffner); Karen Finley; Cheri Gaulke and Sue Maberry; Guerrilla Girls; Kristen Hutchinson; Barbara Kruger; Laiwan; Dona Ann McAdams; Jearld Frederick Moldenhauer; Catherine Opie; Andres Serrano; and Susan Stewart.
The ACI recognizes the additional private collectors who have given permission for their works to be published in this edition.
Conclusion: Kiss & Tell, photographic projection from That Long Distance Feeling: Perverts, Politics & Prozac, 1997. (See below for details.)
Sources & Resources: Viewer response to Drawing the Line exhibition, c.1991–94. (See below for details.)
Where to See: Installation view of Much Sense: Erotics and Life at Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, 1992. (See below for details.)
Credits for Photographs and Works by Other Artists
ACT UP rally, Vancouver, c.1989. Photographer unknown. Fonds AM1675 – BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, City of Vancouver Archives (AM1675-2018-020.4168). Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.
Cover of Against Interpretation, by Susan Sontag (New York: Delta Publishing, 1979).
Cover of Bad Attitude: A Lesbian Sex Magazine 8, no. 1 (1992). LGBTQ Serials Collection, The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto (2009-038). Courtesy of The ArQuives.
Cover of Caught in the Act: An Anthology of Performance Art by Canadian Women, edited by Johanna Householder and Tanya Mars (Toronto: YYZ Books, 2004). Courtesy of Google Books.
Cover of Deneuve: The Lesbian Magazine 1, no. 1 (May–June 1991). LGBTQ Serials Collection, The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto (2011-080). Courtesy of The ArQuives.
Cover of From the Center: Feminist Essays on Women’s Art, by Lucy Lippard (New York: Dutton, 1976). Courtesy of station32.cebu on archive.org.
Cover of Her Tongue on My Theory: Images, Essays and Fantasies, by Kiss & Tell (Vancouver: Press Gang Publishers, 1994).
Cover of Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History, by Harmony Hammond (New York: Rizzoli, 2000). Courtesy of Modlitbooks through AbeBooks.
Cover of Making a Scene: Lesbians and Community Across Canada, 1964–84, by Liz Millward (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015). Courtesy of Google Books.
Cover of On Our Backs: Entertainment for the Adventurous Lesbian 9, no. 6 (July–August 1993). LGBTQ Serials Collection, The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto (2011-57). Courtesy of The ArQuives.
Cover of On Photography, by Susan Sontag (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977).
Cover of Out North: An Archive of Queer Activism and Kinship in Canada, by Craig Jennex and Nisha Eswaran (Toronto: The ArQuives, 2020). Courtesy of The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto.
Cover of Over Exposed: Essays on Contemporary Photography, edited by Carol Squiers (New York: The New Press, 1999). Courtesy of amazon.ca.
Cover of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970). Courtesy of Homeless Books on AbeBooks.com.
Cover of Rites: For Lesbian and Gay Liberation 5, no. 8 (February 1989). Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165 6-7).
Cover of Still Sane, by Persimmon Blackbridge and Sheila Gilhooly (Vancouver: Press Gang Publishers, 1985). Courtesy of Madness Canada.
Cover of Two Ends of Sleep, by Lizard Jones (Vancouver: Press Gang Publishers, 1997).
“Dip me in Maple Syrup and THROW me to the LESBIANS,” metal button, c.1990–99. Collection of The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto (CB507). Courtesy of The ArQuives.
“don’t be a wussy love yer pussy,” metal button, n.d., manufactured by Bendy Buttons. Collection of The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto (CB1914). Courtesy of The ArQuives.
Flyer for an author reading of Prozac Highway with Persimmon Blackbridge, at Concordia University, Montreal, November 20, 1998. Simone de Beauvoir Institute Fonds, Concordia University Archives. Courtesy of Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University.
Installation view of Much Sense: Erotics and Life at Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, 1992. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Portrait of Emma Kivisild, 2018, photograph by Suzo Hickey. Courtesy of Emma Kivisild.
Portrait of Persimmon Blackbridge, 2015. Photograph by SD Holman. Courtesy of Persimmon Blackbridge.
Portrait of Susan Stewart, 2024, photograph by Rhea Borkowicz-Stewart. Courtesy of Susan Stewart.
Portrait of Kiss & Tell (left to right: Persimmon Blackbridge, Lizard Jones, and Susan Stewart), 1998. Photograph by Della McCreary. Courtesy of grunt gallery, Vancouver.
Portrait of Kiss & Tell, 1994, photograph by Ali McIlwaine. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Portrait of Kiss & Tell, date unknown. Photographer unknown. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Poster for the exhibition A Lesbian Show at 112 Workshop Inc., New York City, January 21–February 11, 1978. Courtesy of VINCE fine arts/ephemera, Miami.
Poster for Kiss & Tell’s performance of Corpus Fugit at Festival House, Vancouver, March 28–30, 2002. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Poster for Kiss & Tell’s performance of That Long Distance Feeling: Perverts, Politics & Prozac at Video In, Vancouver, December 5, 1997. Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165 6-7). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Poster for Kiss & Tell’s performance of True Inversions at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, October 9 and 10, 1992. Fonds AM1675 – BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, City of Vancouver Archives (AM1675-S3-: 2018-020.1685). Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.
Poster for Kiss & Tell’s performance of True Inversions at York Theatre, Vancouver, April 11, 1992. Fonds AM1675 – BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, City of Vancouver Archives (AM1675-S3-: 2018-020.1358). Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.
Poster for an LGBTQ+ rally in Winnipeg, April 30, 1978. Canadian Women’s Movement Archives collection, University of Ottawa Library (CA ON0034 10-001-S5-I67). Courtesy of the University of Ottawa Library.
Poster for Lovers and Warriors: aural/photographic collaborations with Susan Stewart at Or Gallery, Vancouver, October 2–30, 1993, City of Vancouver Archives. Fonds AM1675 – BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, City of Vancouver Archives (AM1675-2018-020.1265). Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.
Poster for Trigger: Drawing the Line in 2015 at the Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver, July 23, 2015. Fonds AM1675 – BC Gay and Lesbian Archives, City of Vancouver Archives (M1675-S3-: 2018-020.0257). Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.
Protestors at Drawing the Line exhibition in Northampton, Massachusetts, 1992. Photographer unknown. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
“Protestors Put Heat on Red Hots,” newspaper clipping from The Province (Vancouver, BC), December 12, 1982, page 4.
Review of Drawing the Line, “Photo Exhibit Succeeds by Letting Its Audience Talk Back” by Lou Cove, The Valley Optimist, May 11, 1992, page 40. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165 6-7). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Spread from Suggestive Poses: Artists and Critics Respond to Censorship, edited by Lorraine Johnson (Toronto: Toronto Photographers Workshop, 1997), pages 82–83.
Untitled (Your body is a battleground), 1989, by Barbara Kruger. Collection of The Broad, Los Angeles (F-KRUG-1F89.17). Courtesy the artist, The Broad Art Foundation, and Sprüth Magers.
Viewer response to Drawing the Line exhibition, August 1991. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Viewer response to Drawing the Line exhibition, c.1991–94. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
Viewer response to Drawing the Line exhibition, c.1991–94. Kiss & Tell Fonds, Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby (MsC-165). Courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library.
“WOMEN’S BATHHOUSE DEFENSE FUND: PUSSIES BITE BACK,” metal button, c.2000. The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, Toronto (CB1915). Courtesy of The ArQuives.
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Kiss & Tell (1988–2002), the lesbian art and activist collective, pushed back against lesbian invisibility with its photography exhibitions, multimedia performances, and books.
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