Friday 8th November, 7pm – late: We Both Laughed In Pleasure

An evening showcase of a new body of work by the artist Grace Pickering We Both Laughed In Pleasure, an assertion of transmasculine joy and an homage to community and intimacy – with live DJ sets from artists Joe Sweeney and Gia Jenkins.

The portraits and film borrow their name from the text We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan, 1961-1991. Described as “a radical testament to trans happiness”, the diaries follow the life of one of America’s first trans rights activists. Sullivan, who identified as a trans gay man, charts his early years recognising his identity through identification with The Beatles, his campaigns to change laws for transgender people in the US, and his final days living with HIV. The writer was instrumental in Pickering’s understanding of their sexuality and gender, and here, the artist recreates the feeling of shared freedom and comfort the book’s title attests to.

Photoseries

Capturing moments of intentional connectivity enacted between photographer and subject, Pickering’s six photographic portraits of friends and community members simultaneously contribute to a canon of transmasculine representation that has, until recently, been scarce. Subjects are therefore boldly characterised as transmasculine figures misrepresented and/or obscured from history, including; Joa(n) of Arc, Harlem Renaissance blues singer Gladys Bentley, and Sullivan himself. Contextualising feelings and experiences through precedence, this process also revels in the pleasure that can be found in the act of becoming.

Short Film

Pickering’s film, produced with Greatcoat Films, brings together archive footage of friends and acquaintances within their wider community, the artist seeks to draw links between nonbinary and trans men across geography to refute the stereotype of isolation often associated with transgender people, demonstrating the possibilities of solidarity and worldmaking. The film’s culmination at the Trans March makes visible the dissolution of boundaries between the dyke and transmasculine communities. From London to Los Angeles to Brooklyn, Pickering instead paints a cinematic picture of a supportive and boundless community animated by love.

“I started taking the photos and making this film when struggling to make deep connections with others. The title makes me think of connectivity and the full-bodily freedom within that, of finding myself comfortable in another person’s presence. In the film, I discuss how I first met a nonbinary person at a house party and it was like looking in a mirror, or at least, how I’d have wanted that to feel. Later, the camera became another kind of mirror, as invited more interactions like that one. These kinds of fleeting interpersonal connections, and the discovery of books like Sullivan’s, have opened my eyes to the trans- masc community in ways that are at odds with what I had seen portrayed in mainstream media. We Both Laughed In Pleasure is an intentional celebration of thriving narratives.” – Grace Pickering

We Both Laughed In Pleasure will be exhibited on the 8th November 2024 at the Shoreditch Arts Club. Prints are for sale in editions of 20 and available via the website. The film We Both Laughed In Pleasure (2024) was produced by Greatcoat Films.

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