Queer|Art Announces Queer|Art|Film 'Winter's a Drag' Season at IFC Center

Queer|Art, the New York City-based non-profit supporting the creative and professional development of LGBTQ artists, is pleased to announce the Winter 2019 season of Queer|Art|Film at IFC Center, presented by HBO. Queer|Art|Film is a monthly screening series in which some of New York's most unique artists present and discuss the films that have most inspired them. This season Queer Art's flipping the script by inviting four celebrated drag queens to present and discuss films that have inspired their craft in post-screening kikis. Curated by Adam Baran and Brooklyn drag diva Lady Quesadilla, this season entitled "Winter's a Drag," serves as the sequel to the 2014 Summer of Drag season. A full itinerary follows. All screenings begin at 8pm.

Monday, January 7
Linda Simpson presents EATING RAOUL
(Paul Bartel, 1982)

Paul and Mary Bland live in an apartment building full of swingers, but this uptight couple finds sex repulsive and their living situation even worse. Until, of course, they come up with an absurdly diabolical scheme to profit off it...! Gay director and star Paul Bartel's 1982 cult camp classic shares a subversive sensibility with this night's presenter Linda Simpson (hilarious hostess, bingo queen, and drag herstorian). Linda writes, "I love that the film is so politically incorrect, but in such a ridiculous manner that it's impossible to be offended. Plus Mary Woronov is hilarious and sexy, which is the type of drag queen I've always aspired to be."

Monday, February 4
Sasha Velour presents VEGAS IN SPACE
(Phillip R. Ford, 1991)

When Captain Dan Tracey and his spacemen learn that the all-female planet of Clitoris has been robbed of its precious gem, Girlinium, they take a pill to switch genders and go undercover. However, there are evil schemers among the Clitori and they're looking to thwart Tracey Daniels and her crew's mission! Featuring a who's-who of San Francisco legends, including Doris Fish, Tippi, Miss X, and Ginger Quest, this campy skewering of BARBARELLA and BUCK ROGERS-style sci-fi flicks became a cult favorite in the early 90s. The film is loved by our guest presenter, RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 winner Sasha Velour, who even shares a last name with two characters in the film!

Monday, March 4
Flotilla DeBarge presents THE LANDLORD
(Hal Ashby, 1970)

When wealthy Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) decides to buy a run-down building in Brooklyn, his plan is to evict the black tenants and build himself a luxury home. But upon visiting the tenement, Elgar realizes he can use his purchase to REBEL against his racist parents and begins a clumsy attempt to befriend his new tenants (including the amazing Diana Sands & Marki Bey). Can Elgar really bridge the racial divide? Hal Ashby's brilliantly subversive satire of privilege, gentrification, and racial perceptions is a favorite of drag empress Flotilla DeBarge, who calls it a "heartfelt and hilarious film" that resonates even more today.

Monday, April 8
Untitled Queen presents TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! JULIE NEWMAR
(Beeban Kidron, 1995)

New York City drag divas Noxeema, Vida, and Chi Chi (played by Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo) take a road trip to the Miss Drag Queen of America Pageant in Hollywood-and come across a few major bumps along the way. This star studded hit comedy includes cameos by RuPaul, Lady Bunny, Flotilla DeBarge and, of course, Julie Newmar. As a child, TO WONG FOO made a big impression on Brooklyn drag artist Untitled Queen, who writes, "It made me laugh, it made me curious, confused, and enthralled. Back when I started performing, I also began a deep friendship with two other queens, and have thought so much about the parallels to this film."

For more info and to purchase tickets, head here.

About Queer|Art

Queer|Art launched in 2009 to support a generation of LGBTQ+ artists that lost mentors to the AIDS Crisis of the 1980s. By fostering the confident expression of LGBTQ+ artists' perspectives, stories, and identities, Queer|Art empowers a population that has been historically suppressed, disenfranchised, and often overlooked by traditional institutional and economic support systems. The current programs of Queer|Art include: the year-long Queer|Art|Mentorship program; the long-running Queer|Art|Film series, held monthly at the IFC Center in lower Manhattan; and Queer|Art|Awards, a new initiative of grants, prizes, and awards that provides various kinds of direct support-monetary and otherwise-to LGBTQ+ artists.

The Queer|Art|Mentorship program, launched in 2010, produces an evolving intergenerational dialogue within the LGBTQ+ arts community that has a direct impact on the landscape of contemporary art and culture as a whole. The program, which supports a year-long exchange between emerging and established artists, has propelled the careers of a new generation of creators. Queer|Art|Film, which has presented more than 100 screenings since 2009, provides a space for invited artists to present films that have inspired them, charting a uniquely queer cultural lineage through cinema to other artistic disciplines. Queer|Art|Awards was initiated last year with the Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant and the introduction of the Queer|Art|Prize (for Sustained Achievement and Recent Work). Both awards are entering their second year; more to be announced soon.

A list of the intergenerational community of artists supported and brought together by Queer|Art includes: Silas Howard, Jennie Livingston, Matt Wolf, Hilton Als, Sarah Schulman, Pamela Sneed, Justin Vivian Bond, Jibz Cameron, Trajal Harrell, John Kelly, Geoffrey Chadsey, Everett Quinton, Geo Wyeth, Angela Dufresne, Nicole Eisenman, Avram Finkelstein, Chitra Ganesh, Pati Hertling, Jonathan Katz, Tourmaline & Sasha Wortzel, Jess Barbagallo, Morgan Bassichis, Monstah Black, Yve Laris Cohen, Troy Michie, Tommy Pico, Justin Sayre, Colin Self, Jacolby Satterwhite, Rick Herron, and Hugh Ryan, among many others

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