In a former Chicago church, a new photography show is a portal to the world of burlesque
The story behind the show “Lust in the Dust” starts with photographer Joe Gallo, the Beat Kitchen and an 8-foot snake.
By Andrew Meriwether
In the late 1990s, Chicago photographer Joe Gallo, now 70, was inspired to shoot a series of portraits inspired by the HBO television series Carnivále. This led him to the Beat Kitchen on Belmont Avenue, where a burlesque performer known as Cherish ran a show called Belmont Burlesque that also starred her 8-foot python.
Gallo started documenting various burlesque performances across the city, and through those connections, he was introduced to the famed Miss Exotic World Museum, a retreat center and archive situated in Helendale, Calif., on a former chicken ranch.
Early in the 1990s, burlesque performers used the property as a way station between performances in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. But eventually it became something of a pilgrimage site where veteran and fledgling performers convened to celebrate their craft and the home of the annual Miss Exotic World pageant, featuring the who’s who of the burlesque world.
Gallo started documenting various burlesque performances across the city, and through those connections, he was introduced to the famed Miss Exotic World Museum, a retreat center and archive situated in Helendale, Calif., on a former chicken ranch.
Early in the 1990s, burlesque performers used the property as a way station between performances in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. But eventually it became something of a pilgrimage site where veteran and fledgling performers convened to celebrate their craft and the home of the annual Miss Exotic World pageant, featuring the who’s who of the burlesque world.
Gallo traveled to document the Miss Exotic World pageant twice at the Helendale location, as well as when the museum eventually found a home in Las Vegas. His photographs — displaying through March in a converted West Side church that is now a cultural venue — transport the viewer to what feels like an alternate dimension, where glamorous dancers in sequined costumes pose and shimmy against an otherworldly and arid landscape.
Alongside Gallo’s photos, the exhibition showcases a set of ceramic and mixed media skulls by the artist Marilyn Artus. As a former burlesque producer, Artus created these sculptures to pay tribute to the divas who innovated the art form. A burlesque performance on Feb. 17 will also give visitors the chance to witness performers in action.
Gallo told WBEZ contributor Andrew Meriwether the backstory behind five photos in the exhibition. Below you’ll find those stories in the photographer’s own words.
Sit on Your Hands – Circa 2003/2005
“I am a little lower than eye level, and I’m following the women kind of going down the runway because they had a walk-by part of their performance. And there was a shed that they were walking in front of — kind of like a pool house — and that guy had set up a chair on top of the shed. I don’t know if he was a Dixie Evans partner [Dixie Evans is the performer who founded the museum], but he was somebody who was significant within the Miss Exotic World ranch camp. And he just sat up there the whole show, just like that on his hands. Every time I looked, he was up there.”
Lust in the Dust – Circa 2003/2005
“That little suitcase, that’s what caught my eye. Basically, she had finished her performance and was walking back to the dressing room. And she just had a look about her. So I just stopped her and I said, ‘Hey, would you mind if I took your photo? Could you walk towards that Winnebago thing?’ And she said, ‘Oh, yeah, sure.’ And then when I was going through and editing them I thought that’s really cool because it looks like a different kind of story. It looked more like a film clip or movie poster. And I thought, ‘Well, what would the title of that movie be?’ And “Lust in the Dust” just kind of evolved out of that.”
