Unknown
Joan Jett-Blakk and Babette, c.1993
Hosts of talkshow/performance series produced by Rick Jacobsen
c.1993
Gelatin silver print
KIKI GALLERY COLLECTION
A small gallery located in San Francisco’s Mission District,
the Kiki Gallery was a provocative, intelligent presence
in the Bay Area art community from 1993 to 1995. Kiki’s
founder and director, Rick Jacobsen, shaped a lively
program of exhibitions, readings, and performances by
emerging artists. The confluence of innovative art, gay
culture, and performance that was distinctive to Kiki had its
antecedents in the mid-1950s projects of King Ubu Gallery
and Six Gallery. In these pioneering artist-run spaces, Jack
Spicer, Robert Duncan, Jess, Wally Hedrick, Jay De Feo,
Allen Ginsberg, and others presented and supported one
another’s work. The same creative energies effloresced
in the theatre of the Cockettes, in the conceptual art and
performance movement of the 1970s, and in the rich
history of alternative art spaces in the Bay Area. These
energies had a brilliant, though brief, flowering at Kiki.
The gallery became highly regarded for its director’s
imagination and fearlessness in presenting challenging
new work.
Wayne Smith
Sick Joke, 1993
catalogue cover
KIKI GALLERY COLLECTION
In its existence of only twenty-two months, Kiki was
known for many memorable shows and events, beginning
with the exhibitions Caca @ Kiki and ending with Piece:
Nine Artists Consider Yoko Ono. The archives includes:
exhibition catalogues (Sick Joke, Fresh Produce), publicity
materials (Late Night with Joan Jett Blakk), performance
stills (David E. Johnston’s Gone Dollywood), original art
(Keith Mayerson’s Pinocchio the Big Fag), and snapshots of
Rick Jacobsen with Jerome Caja’s work installed for the
exhibition Toilet Water, seen in the background.
