The work of Queer photographer – and one of the key figures of the New York punk and art scene – Jimmy DeSana (1949–90), who died of an AIDS-related illness at age 39, is still not as widely known as it should be. The retrospective exhibition, which opens at Meyer Riegger in Berlin on Friday, 3 November, brings together over 50 works from all phases of his brief career, from the 1970s to the late 80s, combining themes of sexual liberation and Queer aesthetics with the consumerist conformity of the American Dream.

There will be a talk with AA Bronson (General Idea), Antje Krause-Wahl (Goethe Universität Frankfurt), Christian Liclair (Texte zur Kunst) and Evan Tepest (Author) during the opening at 7 pm. The conversation will focus on the historical, political, and aesthetic references in the work of DeSana in the context of the AIDS crisis.