On a cold day in February 1982, I sat nursing a scotch in Fe-Be's at 11th and Folsom. A familiar looking guy straddled the stool next to me.
"Jim Stewart," he said. "I heard you were back from the Russian River."
"Lou Rudolph!" The name came back in the nick of time. "It's been ages." I'd shot a promo photo session of Lou, a performance painter, a few years earlier.
"Any photo shows lately?" Lou said.
"No," I said. I drained the last of my drink. Lou nodded to the bartender.
"Ever hear of the 544 Natoma Performance Gallery?" Lou said.
"No," I said. The bartender set another scotch in front of me.
"Peter Hartman opened it about a year ago," Lou said. "I'm the artist in residence. I showed Peter some photos you did of me and he's interested in mounting a show of your work."
"Great!" I said.
The 544 Natoma Performance Gallery was the City's first openly gay performance space. It was great for edgy art, theater, music, and dance. Town and Country, my show of black and white photos, depicted the grit and spit of urban drugs and bondage juxtaposed against the sweat and stink of Russian River cowboys. My signature photo was a bare-breasted leather lady pulling a chain-bound man from a black plastic garbage bag. Trash!
My opening night reception, March 3, 1982, was packed. Lou opened by spray painting "Cheap Hotel" backwards from behind a sheet strung across the stage; no small feat. Drag queen performances followed as did Japanese Noh/Kabuki musical drama, where masked men played both male and female parts. All was recorded by Lou on canvas in real time. Enthusiastic applause greeted both the drama and performance paintings.
The space at 544 Natoma helped launch Lou Rudolph as an artist noted for his performance paintings. He captured on canvas New York/San Francisco underground performance artist Camille O'Grady and went on to capture the artistic energy of numerous underground punk rock and leather bar scenes coast to coast.
The San Francisco Jacks held their first party at 544 Natoma on March 28, 1983. Peter Hartman provided the space for some 75 to 100 men but laid down four rules: don't cum on the walls, sign an accident waiver, wear shoes, and beer must be in cans. Lou Rudolph painted the party in real time. (See "Jacks Are Wild" B.A.R. March 21, 2013.)
During the short existence of 544 Natoma Performance Gallery, Hartman produced a vast array of seminal art, musical events, theater, and performance pieces. He had a vast background as composer, poet, and playwright who had studied in New York and Europe. Hartman was influenced by various artists including writer and music critic Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and poet and art critic Frank O'Hara. Peter Hartman composed for both voice and keyboard and worked with Gerard Malanga, a close associate of Andy Warhol, and composed the score for Malanga's film Souvenir.
A number of performers passed through 544 Natoma before they were well known, including drag performer and influential playwright/actor in experimental theater Ethyl Eichelberger, and actor/comedian/political activist Whoopi Goldberg.
The 544 Natoma Performance Gallery closed in 1984. Today the space is a mixed use building that houses the San Francisco Soundworks, a privately owned venue that provides studio facilities and residences for major recording companies from Los Angeles and New York.
Copywright 2014 [email protected] For further true gay adventures check out the award-winning Folsom Street Blues: A Memoir of 1970s SoMa and Leatherfolk in Gay San Francisco .