Tensions Between Life and Art: Hal Fischer and Jarrett Earnest in Conversation
Please join Aperture and McNally Jackson Books for a conversation between the artist Hal Fischer and the writer Jarrett Earnest celebrating the launch of Hal Fischer’s first Aperture monograph, Hal Fischer: Seminal Works (Aperture, 2025). The conversation will be followed by a book signing.
In the late 1970s, as gay men in San Francisco experienced a new sense of freedom following the Stonewall Uprising, Hal Fischer made Gay Semiotics, a photo-text project that categorized denizens of the Castro and Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods by social type such as the “jock” or the “hippie.” Sly and systematic, Fischer portrayed the sartorial codes of queer street style—earrings, handkerchiefs, jeans, or leather—that broadcast a range of desires to potential sexual prospects. The series became an influential record of a libertine era before AIDS, the rise of internet dating apps, and tech industry–accelerated gentrification transformed queer life forever. Tracing the formation of an essential American artist, Hal Fischer: Seminal Works includes Gay Semiotics together with Fischer’s rarely seen early photography and features essays that offer vital new perspectives on the history of San Francisco and the resonance of the gay rights movement across generations.
This event is presented in partnership with McNally Jackson. RSVP is required for guests to reserve a seat.
McNally Jackson kindly asks attendees to hold their place with a five-dollar voucher, redeemable on the night of the event on any product in their store or in their bar and café. If you have a change of heart or plans, write to events@mcnallyjackson.com, and they’ll gladly refund you and release your spot, up to twenty-four hours before the event.
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Image: Hal Fischer, Self-Portrait, State College, 1974, from Hal Fischer: Seminal Works (Aperture, 2025). Courtesy the artist
Hal Fischer is an artist, art critic, and museum professional. Fischer’s work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions and is featured in both public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. His books include Gay Semiotics (1978) and The Gay Seventies (2019).
Jarrett Earnest is a writer and curator. His books include What It Means to Write About Art: Interviews with Art Critics (2018) and Valid Until Sunset (2023).
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