On Sunday, June 2nd, 2024, from 2-5 pm, LACE Screening Room will present THE WHORE GAZE: Understandings of Care, Labor, and Sovereignty, a film project curated by Elizabeth Dayton and Kim Ye at the Philosophical Research Society at 3910 Los Feliz Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Drawing on filmmaker PJ Starr and activist Sonyka Francis’s concept of the “whore gaze,” this film and video program celebrates the legacy of sex workers as visionaries who reimagine representations of care, labor, and sovereignty. During this screening,  Elizabeth Dayton and Kim Ye will feature filmmakers that trace the legacy of the artistic production of sex workers themselves, and reveal the aesthetic and conceptual values embodied by this underrecognized community.

As guests arrive, they will be greeted by a space filled by Bolexxx (Red Light Green excerpt) (2023), by Eva Wu. The program will then present the film Stone Dove (2021) by Chichi Castillo and May May Peltier, followed by the documentary Odyssey is Red (2022), directed by Neda Chaturvedi, Ayushi Shriamwar, Taihr Ahmed Quereshis, and Naomi Fleur Jahan and produced by the Hers is Ours Collective in India. To close out the program, Fly in Power (2023), directed by Yin Q and Yoon Grace Ra will be screened. The screening will be followed by a community guest panel, “The Erotic Labor of Art, Family, and Futurity.”

This event is free admission with limited free parking available on site, RSVP here.

Founded in 1978 by a core group of committed artists, LACE is an internationally recognized pioneer among art institutions. LACE is a nonprofit venue that exhibits and advocates for innovations in art-making and public engagement.