Since my job is throwing parties for NYC's downtown gay club scene, going to the Washington D.C. opening of Jeremy Kost's new nightlife-focused photography show "Anyone Other Than Me ...." could have felt like a day at the office. It was anything but mundane. Kost's Polaroids of transsexuals, club kids, and everything in between, recognize a nightlife subculture that's overflowing with walking pieces of art. These unedited photos are raw and honest, though they are carefully curated, and capture their subjects in their elements. Despite the show's title, Kost's mug is sneaked into several of his pieces. But this is no surprise - Kost's camera has served as his access pass into the underbelly of nightclubs, where he has spent countless hours forming relationships with its denizens (many of whom were in attendance at the opening. Trannies and drag queens and boys, oh my!). The show's after-party at the Capitol Skyline Hotel incorporated a bit of performance art, with a live camera feed in a hotel suite showing drag queens transforming themselves from men into their other selves. Like Kost's show, it was another chance for people to see what's on the other side of a red velvet rope they might otherwise not get to cross.
"Jeremy Kost: Anyone Other Than Me ...." is on display at Conner Contemporary Art through March 6th. Conner Contemporary Art, 1358 Florida Ave., (202) 588-8750, Washington, D.C. Tues.-Sat.,10 a.m.-5 p.m.
