Rock is Ridiculous: The Queer Underground in 1970s Music Culture by Gavin Butt
Rock is Ridiculous: The Queer Underground in 1970s Music Culture
We cordially invite you to a presentation by Gavin Butt, which reveals the underground origins of pop personas, offering insights into LGBTQ+ creativity's role in reshaping mainstream culture.
This talk, by Gavin Butt, a professor of Fine Art at Northumbria University-Newcastle, explores how Ridiculous Theatre, a riotous model of LGBTQ+ theatre-making in 1960s and 1970s New York, impacted the global world of popular music. Focusing upon artists associated with Andy Warhol's 1971 production of Pork, this talk will highlight the cultural effects put in play, and the possibilities forestalled, by a cross-over of artists, attitudes and approaches from an underground theatre milieu into mainstream music culture. Based on new research, it will show how Downtown theatre artists and directors became influential for a time in shaping aspects of glam and punk rock, and detail how their activities have impacted the music industry during the 1970s and since.
The lecture will be in English as a part of the Brno Pride Week 2024.