Fugitive Materials

Thinking of Adrienne Rich today on what would have been her 97th birthday and as Fugitive Materials has just placed a remarkable piece of her personal library with a research institution. Rich is visible on so many of these pages: arguments in the margins, passages underlined, pages flagged for return, whole conversations unfolding in ink across decades of reading. All evidence of this groundbreaking poet and essayist’s vital intellectual life, and critical engagement with Black liberation, feminism, socialism, post-colonialism. Among the highlights are extraordinary association copies from friends and collaborators including Barbara Smith and June Jordan. Smith’s inscribed copy of But Some of Us Are Brave — one of the foundational texts of Black feminist thought and intersectional feminism — reads: “Finally the realization of a dream. Thanks for the support that made it possible, your caring. Love always, Barbara 1/2/82.” Rich’s blurb appears on the back cover. Jordan’s Dry Victories, a document of radical Black feminist pedagogy and writing, is inscribed simply: “For Adrienne, of course, 3/28/76.” Other titles include an annotated first edition of Capitalism, The Family, and Personal Life, alongside works by Frantz Fanon, Emma Goldman, Andrea Dworkin, and others — all bearing the marks of Rich’s readership. #fugitivematerials #adriennerich

Who Is Sir Lady Java? Fugitive Materials is proud to release our latest zine, dedicated to the memory of the pioneering Black trans performer and labor activist — and the first transgender person represented by the ACLU — Sir Lady Java (1942–2024). A nightclub star who emerged in New Orleans and rose to prominence in Los Angeles, Java became an underground icon, performing alongside and among figures like Redd Foxx, Sammy Davis Jr., James Brown, B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, and Lena Horne. A self-described “female impersonator” and a groundbreaking multidisciplinary dancer, she moved fluidly between performance, nightlife, and screen. She appeared as herself in the 1976 film The Human Tornado and was profiled in Jet, Ebony, Sepia, and early queer publications like the L.A. Advocate. But her significance extends beyond the stage. In 1967, after police shut down her act at Redd Foxx’s club under Rule 9—a regulation banning performers from “impersonating” the opposite sex—Java became the first transgender individual defended by the ACLU, challenging a system that sought to erase her presence altogether. Who Is Sir Lady Java? draws from her archive to trace this life and legacy through images, ephemera, and the record of a figure who shaped both performance history and the fight for trans visibility. Available now. Link in bio to order. #fugitivematerials #sirladyjava

RIP Ben Morea Ben’s art is the reason I work in archives and ephemera; encountering the newsletters, fliers and broadsides that he and collaborators like Ron Hahne and Osha Neumann designed as part of the anarchist collectives Black Mask and the Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers (UAWMF) quite literally shaped my early career. Over the years, I was able to curate a show of his paintings, to co-publish a book with @boohooray reproducing those incredible Black Mask issues, host talks with him, and to find permanent institutional homes for his work. Hanging out with Ben in his midtown loft without air conditioning, or walking the streets of the Lower East Side with him, I learned more and more of a personal history of the 1960s in New York City. I’m grateful to have called Ben a friend, one of the few people who I allowed to nickname me. 1, 2 - covers of a few issues of Black Mask 3 - the exhibition, Full Circle, Ben Morea

The best part of being an @nybookfair ambassador has been meeting Daylon Orr who runs @fugitivematerials , an archival processing and bookselling project that focuses on “radical, lesser-known, and alternative histories”. A huge amount of their collection is queer but their work is expansive covering labour movements, disability justice, Palestinian liberation and so much more. On Saturday Daylon and I will be speaking with the amazing curator @drewmsawyer about queer archives, material histories and the roles these fairs can play. The photos above are from my visit to Fugitive Materials and their stall at the fair (C29!). Please note not everything is for sale! So grateful for @sundayrarebooks @andreyandmelissa for all of their help!

A substantial photo archive of over 150 original vintage silver gelatin prints by the queer social documentarian and activist Dona Ann McAdams, documenting queer life in 1980s and 1990s New York. The collection includes images of queer liberation, ACT UP, pro-choice activism, and other elements of queer and feminist New York City life during this period as seen from within the community. The series, which McAdams titled “Arresting Images,” documents ACT UP demonstrations and meetings at the LGBT Center; the Grand Central Terminal die-in; lesbian organizing; and everyday queer life at the height of the AIDS crisis. Also pictured are demonstrations following the death of artist David Wojnarowicz; the protest outside of Artists Space after the NEA pulled funding for Nan Goldin’s exhibition, Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing, because of Wojnarowicz’s essay; the LES needle exchange in action; and queer sex worker and performance artists Annie Sprinkle and Veronica Vera. #fugitivematerials #arrestingimages @dona_ann_mcadams

Just a few images from a substantial archive documenting Iranian student organizing across the global diaspora and Marxist opposition to the Shah. Includes publications in Farsi and English, along with extensive handwritten and typescript documentation from American organizers in the years and months before the revolution. This collection and many more records of resistance will be on view this weekend at Booth #C29 in the center aisle of the @nybookfair #fugitivematerials

WHITE STREET IS BEING THE THREATENED!!! The 1988 proposed development of a 32-story tower above the Tribeca Synagogue on White Street caused an uproar in the neighborhood. This poster urges residents to voice their opposition at the Landmark Preservation Committee. The late 1980s saw an influx of wealthy residents into Tribeca, and major efforts at development that forced out small businesses and long-time residents. Documented here is one of the few battles against this new construction in Tribeca that was won by historic residents, led by the Tribeca Community Association. A rare document of New York anti-development organizing from the 1980s. This poster — and much more — will be on exhibit at Booth #C29 next week in the center aisle of the @nybookfair at the Park Avenue Armory, Thursday April 30-Sunday May 3. See you there! #fugitivematerials

GETTING GAY IN NEW YORK The 1974 first edition of this book of poetry written by the noted queer activist and writer, George Whitmore, self-published out of his Upper West Side apartment. Born in Denver in 1945, Whitmore was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, working at New York City’s Planned Parenthood in lieu of military service, coordinating its national abortion referral unit. In the 1970s he worked for a non-profit focused on low-income housing, and also served as contributing editor and literary critic for the queer magazine The Advocate. The author of three plays, three novels and two books of poetry, all focused on queerness and the impact of AIDS on society, Whitmore is perhaps best known for his article in The New York Times Magazine, “Reaching Out to Someone With AIDS.” That article led to his nonfiction work Someone Was Here: Profiles in the AIDS Epidemic, published by New American Library in 1988. Whitmore died of AIDS related illness in 1989. He was 43. A remarkable artifact of queer identity in New York. #fugitivematerials #gettinggayinnewyork #georgewhitmore

Barbara Kruger, Peter Hujar, and Baron Wolman walk into a magazine… The rare complete run in thirteen issues of the influential but short-lived (1970-1971) counterculture fashion magazine founded by Rolling Stone’s first chief photographer, Baron Wolman, with former Harper’s Bazaar editor and later Village Voice fashion editor, Mary Peacock — featuring the art direction of Barbara Kruger and photography by Peter Hujar, Imogen Cunningham, and others. Launched during an era of glossy, ad-riddled fashion magazines, Rags, a saddle staple newsprint journal, was designed as the anti-Vogue. Experimenting with segments like “On the Street” which explored how the general public was styling the rags of the day, and articles encouraging DIY interventions, as well as eco-conscious up-cycling suggestions, Rags was on the forefront of fashion concepts still employed and explored today. Rags introduced a concept of fashion as an expression of politics and cultural relevance in features such as Issue 5’s “Fashion Fascism: Politics of the Midi [skirt]” which argues that the rise of fascism is mirrored by the extension of women’s skirts, or Issue 6’s “Hard Hats: The Champeen Fashion Critics” a compilation of interviews with construction workers and their opinions on women’s fashion; both articles are anti-long skirt. Notably, before her work was in the collections of museums around the world, and Barbara Kruger was a bastion of the feminist arts movement, she served as the Rags art director, and her singular style can be found in these pages. The publication also featured an arsenal of established and soon-to-be-acclaimed photographers including: Imogen Cunningham, Peter Hujar, Larry Sultan, Ed Ruscha and more. The magazine’s DIY style, with hand drawn illustrations, also included works of R. Crumb, prior to his well-known series of Fritz the Cat and Betsy Johnson. #fugitivematerials #ragsmagazine #barbarakruger #peterhujar

Shortlist #3: Vicente Rojo & Imprenta Madero Fugitive Materials is proud to present our third shortlist, dedicated to the Spanish-Mexican artist, printer, and designer Vicente Rojo (1932-2021) and his famed studio, Imprenta Madero. Rojo was one of the most influential Mexican printers and designers of the 20th century, and collaborated with many of the most celebrated writers of the period, including Octavio Paz, José Emilio Pacheco, and Carlos Monsiváis, all of which are represented in this shortlist. He is perhaps best known internationally for designing the cover of the first edition of Gabriel García Márquez’s Cien Años de Soledad. Shortlist available at the link in bio. 1. Shortlist cover 2. Octavio Paz - Discos Visuales [design by Vicente Rojo] 3. Historia del Stencil: Una Muestra de Serigrafia Artistica 4. Carlos Monsiváis - Principados y Potestades 5. Walter Benjamin - Paris: Capital del siglo XIX [trans. José Emilio Pacheco; design by Vicente Rojo] 6. León Felipe - MacBeth: o el asesino del sueño 7. Ballet Folclórico Nacional - Aztlán 8. Taller coreográfico de la u.n.a.m. 9. Arnaldo Coen - Mutaciones 10. Mecanismos/Imágenes/Ficciones 11. [Third Cinema] Cinemateca, no. 1 #fugitivematerials #vicenterojo #octaviopaz #joseemiliopacheco

Poster produced in protest of the American oil blockade – aggression which has again flared in recent months as the Trump regime heightens a long-lasting campaign of U.S. imperialism in the Americas. The poster depicts a frightened Uncle Sam dancing in fear as a ship bearing the Mexican flag travels across the sea, presumably toward Cuba; it also solicits donations to support the Cuban cause, with the two administrators of the fund identified as Luis Cardoza y Aragon and Miguel Concha. Concha was a longtime human rights advocate, an educator, and a Franciscan friar. After an extensive career dedicated to promoting human rights in the Global South, Concha died in 2023. Luis Cardoza y Aragon was a Guatemalan artist, writer, poet, and diplomat who was at this time living in Mexico, exiled by the rightwing Guatemalan government. Friends with Andre Breton, David Alfaro Siquieros, Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales, Diego Rivera, and many others throughout his career, Cardoza y Aragon was committed to putting his artistic abilities to the service of anti-colonial causes. An extraordinary document of Latin American solidarity in the face of U.S. imperialism, and an artifact of the struggles against American aggression that persist today. Item no. 27 from our recent catalog, Es Una Guerra de Todo El Pueblo - available at link in bio. #fugitivematerials

Fugitive Materials Catalog No. 4 Es Una Guerra de Todo El Pueblo: Insurrection, Reform, & Counterrevolution in Cold War Latin America Fugitive Materials is proud to present our fourth catalog, dedicated to insurrection, reform, and counterrevolution in Latin America. The catalog documents revolutionary processes across the region during the volatile Cold War years of popular struggle against US-backed oligarchies, from the Central American guerrilla and civil wars, to the Southern Cone dictatorships and their oppositions, the Bolivarian Revolution, and the 1968 Mexican student movement. Catalog available at the link in bio. — 1. Catalog cover 2. ¡El Enemigo Es El Mismo! [South-South Solidarity] 3. ¡Victoria! . . . Destrucción Total del Fascismo [Taller de Gráfica Popular] 4. Aborto Libre Y Gratuito 5. Collection of Chavista Pamphlets [Founding of PSUV] 6. Instructivos Para el Combate Insurrectional [FMLN] 7. Desarme del FMLN? Paz en el Salvador [Salvadoran peace process] 8. Canoa [Third Cinema] 9. Lula Sem Censura 10. La cárcel y yo [Mexican prison literature, ‘68 Student Movement] #fugitivematerials