The Art of the Black Party, at the Center One Night Only

For years, a certain group of New Yorkers looked forward to President's Day Weekend not for car or coat sales, but the arrival in their mailbox of a framable poster heralding that annual rite of spring, the Black Party.

Now, the Saint at Large, the producer of the annual dance marathon, is commemorating these works of art (and they really are) in a one-night-only exhibit at the LGBT Center at 208 W. 13th St., Thursday, March 8. The mammoth exhibit will display three decades of posters, along with 15 years of black-and-white formal portraits of attendees taken by Robert Zash. There will also be original art from BPX Zine, a magazine published by Saint-at-Large in conjunction with the party; and erotic artists from the class given at Leslie/Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in Soho.

The idea for such a show had been germinating at the Center and the Saint-at-Large for years, "but the time and situation never fell into place," says the overall curator, Mike Peyton. The exhibit is a good demonstration of how the Center's Cultural Program's Department "seems to be actively working on increasing the number, type and quality of its special events," he added.

The show is only running for one night because its size mandated the Center's largest room, which is used continuously. The exhibit may run again elsewhere or return to the Center. But that's a crap shoot, so if you want to experience some of the most provocative poster art anywhere --�as well as precious artifacts of gay culture --�hightail it to Greenwich Village.

More than a party poster

The Black Party poster's artistic bona fides began at the beginning. In 1981, a photographer named Robert Mapplethorpe did the very first poster, excerpted here. (It was in two parts because the party was held over two days -- hard to fathom when people can barely get their arms around an 18-hour dance party these days.)

Although Mapplethorpe had yet to scale the heights of the art world, he was still a coup for the Saint, the East Village gay mega-club that produced and hosted the party. (The original was held for one year by most accounts at Flamingo, one of the "Dancers from the Dance" '70s-era Downtown gay clubs.) But talk about a marriage of artist and content! Was anyone ever assigned a project more appropriate to his aesthetic than this one?

Courting controversy

The posters that followed were sometimes tasteful, more often outrageous in many eyes. Sometimes they were so esoteric a French semiologist could have lectured on them. And sometimes they were downright controversial.

One of -- if not the --�most controversial was this one, a composite made from a Polaroid of a man with a battered face. Some thought it skirted too close to gay bashing, but others were impressed. The artist here was Robert Zash, who is represented elsewhere in the exhibit. Zash also has served as an unofficial archivist, having reprinted the rarest original posters in his photo lab.

Black Party portraits: 5,000 in 15 years

Robert Zash has been setting up a mini-photo studio in the basement of Roseland Ballroom, site of the Black Party, across from the coat check, for the past 15 years. For a fee, attendees can get a formal large photograph mounted on heavy stock mailed to them.

Since so many people give their imaginations (and their wallets) free rein, this has been a perennially popular way to commemorate the night. Zash can't estimate how many photographs he's taken, but it's probably at least 3,000 and possibly as many as 5,000. The photos run the gamut of outfits, ages, ethnicities, sexual identities and genders. (Yes, there are women who attend the Black Party. And straight couples.)

Zash plans a book of these portraits, which are works of art unto themselves. He also has been chronicling the 11th hour of beloved New York institutions such as the Roxy and the Times Square Howard Johnson's restaurant for a project called "The Final Hour"; and his nightlife photos for a project called "Do the Dark."

Works of Art (Truly)

The exhibit will feature original works of art produced for a zine that will be given to all attendees of the Black Party and the Black Party Expo. The Expo takes over Roseland Ballroom the day of the party for exhibitors of fetish wear, DVDs and other goodies, as well as entertainment.

The editor of this year's zine is Aaron Tilford, the publisher of Spunk, an innovative zine that celebrates the arts scene of Downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. A graphic artist by trade, Tilford began Spunk as a way to get his creative juices flowing after spending his days designing for corporate clients. Published occasionally (at least annually), it is a labor of love that gives writers and artists a valuable outlet.

Tilford brought that same ethos to BPX Zine, including original artwork, six of which will be at the Center show (and available for sale, most likely).

For Tilford, the BPX Zine and this show represent the way the Saint-at-Large is expanding the Black Party from its base as a dance party (which it still most certainly is) to a full weekend of culture. (If there is a template, it would probably be Black & Blue in Montreal.)

"I think it's exciting," Tilford said, "exploring other possibilities." BPX zine has expanded this year to 52 pages plus cover, with quite a bit of content, including short stories, one by Tilford himself.

His participation in the zine also means that Tilford will be attending his first Black Party. "I always danced but when I moved to New York in early 2000, I kept expecting dancing when I went out, but people were just standing around," he said, adding that someone explained that the city's archaic cabaret law prohibits dancing without extensive reviews from city agencies.

His crowd didn't do the big-room clubs like the Roxy. Viewing the posters up close and personal will be a good way to acclimate to the big event itself, which happens on March 24-25.

The 15 original posters in the exhibition will be going for $40 each. The special reprints (some of the posters are so rare the originals can't risk being displayed) will go for $60. They're being sold by the Saint-at-Large, with profits going to the Center. Email thesaintatlarge.com for information.

This exhibit runs one night only, Thursday, March 9. A cocktail party at 7 p.m. begins the show, which runs for two hours. Get tickets at this link at the Center website.