"Hard to imagine it, but there was a time before Teddy's and H.Wood and MyHouse, a time before nightlife in Los Angeles was defined by celebrities stumbling out of bars for TMZ to film. That time was long before I got here, somewhere between 1989 and 1992 at Club Fuck held at Le Barcito in Silverlake. There, a group of twisted sisters descended for a queer fetish dance night set to Ministry and Front 242.

"Hosted by Miguel Beristain, Cliff Diller, James Stone, and Sweet P, it served as one of the early hubs of L.A.'s underground. It was the sort of place where a high-end fashion designer would turn up and snatch one of the dancers from the night for his own fashion show, as Jean Paul Gaultier did with Michelle "Hell" Carr.

"Twenty years later, many of the original players are coming together for a party to launch a commemorative photography exhibit dedicated to the night. On hand for tonight: original Club Fuck DJ John Mark; Carr, who is co-hosting the night with Rick Castro and James Stone; a live performance from Linda Lesabre/Beat Mistress; and art from Catherine Opie, Sheree Rose, Rush Riddle, Derek Ridgers, Cat Gwynn, Elyse Regher, Rick Castro, Peter Palladino, and more.

"Don’t think you’ll find Paris Hilton stumbling out of this club, but if she’d like a gratis whipping with a cat o’ nine tails, I’m sure the Club Fuck peeps would be happy to oblige."

— Tricia Romano, August 05, 2009

View an interesting historical note on Le Barcito, formerly the Black Cat Bar and home to Club Fuck, by the Los Angeles Times here. ".... Many historians consider this the spark that ignited the gay civil rights movement...."

Antebellum Gallery is located in the heart of downtown Hollywood. The term antebellum is Latin for"before war". While it commonly refers to a more romantic Gone With the Wind era, we find ourselves again today with American culture at odds with political / religious / social agendas that threaten to blow the lid off its foundations at any given moment.

Steeped in Victorian nuances with a salon style, Antebellum is intended as a hybrid of artistic, cultural, and political iconoclasm.