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papidisidentify.bsky.social
jacob✨
@papidisidentify.bsky.social
24 followers 25 following 23 posts
29 / capricorn / cinephile
📍SGV, CA
(he/they/él)
https://boxd.it/TRuz
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papidisidentify.bsky.social
Aguilar’s thoughtful meditations on her body & the world around her
A color photo of the sandy desert floor. A dry branch curves from the bottom left corner of the frame to the bottom right corner. Just above it, Aguilar’s elbow is bent in the opposite way, forming a “V” shape, mirroring the branch. She is lying on the floor nude, as suggested by her breast entering the frame on the left, though the rest of her body is unseen. A color self-portrait. In the foreground, a nude Aguilar is bent over such that all that is visible is her large ass & crack. In the background are two boulders with large cracks. The cracks in the stone align with Aguilar’s asscrack. A color self-portrait. In the foreground, a nude Aguilar sits on the sandy floor, facing away from the camera with her head bowed. Her body is large and slightly amorphous. In the background is a boulder shaped similarly to Aguilar’s hunched body. Some sparse desert shrubbery surround them. Museum plaque for “Grounded #108,” 2006 (1st photo), “Grounded #112,” 2006/2016 (not included in this photo set), “Untitled, Grounded series,” 2007/2016 (2nd photo), “Grounded #111,” 2006/2016 (3rd photo)
January 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
My personal favorite
A black-&-white self-portrait. It is a wide shot of a room with large open window. A nude Aguilar reclines in a chair perpendicular to the camera’s gaze, resting her feet on an ottoman. A fan perched on a stool blows air across her body. She holds an iced beverage. Museum plaque for “In Sandy’s Room,” 1989 “Aguilar’s first nude self-portrait, In Sandy’s Room, subverts both traditional & idealized notions of beauty in its approach to the body with what the artist termed a ‘relaxed acceptance.’ The depiction of her large, naked physique reclining in a chair & ottoman, with the windows open, drink in hand on a hot afternoon, functions as a personal yet feminist response to the images of women portrayed in fitness, clothing & glamour magazines.”
January 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Aguilar’s tribute to longtime friend Gil Cuadros, a favorite writer of mine
A black-&-white portrait of Cuadros. He looks straight at the camera expressionless. He has short hair and wears round glasses, a mustache & goatee, & a hoop on his left ear. He wears a white T-shirt with a dark sweater vest over. He has a watch on his left wrist & chain bracelet on his right. His hands are in his pockets & a plaid flannel shirt is tied around his waist. A small suitcase with ephemera. Some notable objects include: a photo of a dying Cuadros in bed; a small figurine of Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas; a small ceramic figurine of Budai; a human-shaped cookie cutter filled with a syringe and countless pills; and several pins, including those from ACT UP & Queer Nation. Museum plaque for “Gil Cuadros,” 1993 (1st photo) and “Gilbert’s Altar,” ca. 2001 (2nd photo) “Gil Cuadros (1962-1996), a well-known, gay Latino writer & poet, was one of Aguilar’s closest friends. Aguilar photographed Cuadros extensively from their early college days to his death at age 34 from AIDS. As young students, first at Schurr High School in Montebello, CA & later at East LA College, Aguilar & Cuadros discovered their emerging artistic voices while navigating their queer identities. The assemblage, Gilbert’s Altar, is Aguilar’s personal memorial to Cuadros, while CITY OF GOD (1994), Cuadros’ only published book, includes a tribute to Aguilar alongside other short stories & poems.”
January 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Arguably Aguilar’s most famous piece
Three black-&-white photographs, each with a black background. The left is of the US flag turned sideways. The middle is of Aguilar. The Mexican flag is wrapped over her head with the eagle across her face, while the US flag is worn around her waist like a skirt. A rope is wrapped around her neck, between her exposed breasts, around her interlocked arms like shackles, and around her legs. The right is of the Mexican flag turned sideways. Museum plaque for “Three Eagles Flying,” 1990 “Often examined through the lens of self-portraiture & hybrid cultural identity, this triptych also operates as a powerful form of political image-text. The ‘three eagles’ within the photograph are implicit—the Spanish word for eagle, águila, denotes the artist’s surname, while the national emblems of the US and Mexico are also referenced. With head wrapped & body bound, Aguilar establishes her own figure as a forceful political symbol to be contended with.”
January 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Posting this for Bluesky: one of my favorite exhibits I’ve been to, “Laura Aguilar: Show & Tell” at the Leslie-Lohman in NY (2/13/21)

Cw: nudity, AIDS
Beginning of the exhibit. Several black-&-white nude self portraits hang on the left side of the wall. On the right is the following text: “Laura Aguilar: Show & Tell is the first comprehensive retrospective of American photographer Laura Aguilar (1959-2018), assembling over 70 works produced over 3 decades. Through photographs & videos that are frequently political as well as personal, & which traverse performative, feminist & queer art genres, Aguilar offers candid portraits of herself, her friends & family & LGBTQ & Latinx communities. Aguilar’s now iconic triptych, Three Eagles Flying (1990), set the stage for her future work by using her nude body as an overt & outrageous rebellion against the colonization of Latinx identities—racial, gendered, cultural & sexual. Her practice intuitively evolved over time as she struggled to negotiate & navigate her ethnicity & sexuality, her challenges with depression & auditory dyslexia, & the acceptance of her large body. This exhibition tells the story of the artist who for most of her life struggled to communicate with words yet ironically emerged as a powerful voice for numerous & diverse marginalized populations. Presented through the exhibition are the central themes & creative processes Aguilar undertook from the 1980s through her latest series produced in 2007. From early photography including portraits of friends & other artists within the Chicanx art community, Aguilar moved to courageous nude self portraits, while her emerging lesbian identity & political activism within LA’s gay & lesbian community began to inform her work. Later series are rooted in more introspective & spiritual explorations, as Aguilar’s ongoing personal discovery led to the works for which she has come to be most recognized for—nude self portraiture in nature. Throughout her practice, Aguilar disrupted normative concepts of beauty & the female form while specifically utilizing the gendered body as a site for social critique.”
January 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
. @letterboxd.social reminding me on my birthday that I’m a faggot
Most watched nanogenre: feelings, gay, sex
January 9, 2025 at 12:33 AM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Merry Queersmas
“Christmas Tree” (1966) by James Bidgood. Features a handsome, shirtless twunk (Bobby Kendall) opening gifts on a colorful Christmas morning.
December 25, 2024 at 7:18 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Kinda ironic that she didn’t get to DAWN her GAY apparel
Still from FEMALE TROUBLE (1974). Dawn (Divine) sits on the couch with her parents next to the Christmas tree, moments before finding out her parents did not get her a pair of cha-cha heels.
December 24, 2024 at 6:25 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
“Oh, we buy” - literally one of the most powerful statements ever uttered
The power that that has, the intelligence that that has, the clearance that that has, the access that that has, the influence that that has, the profile that that has, the international implications that that has
December 13, 2024 at 9:05 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Basically anything film noir/neo-noir/cine negro
Poster for THE MALTESE FALCON (1941). At the top, Humphrey Bogart fires 2 guns. At the bottom, Mary Astor poses on an ottoman. Tagline: “A story as explosive as his blazing automatics!” Poster for LA DIOSA ARRODILLADA (1947). In the foreground, Arturo de Cordova & María Félix embrace. In the background is a statue of a nude woman. Poster for CHINATOWN (1974). On the left, Jack Nicholson smokes a cigarette. The smoke envelops the faint image of Faye Dunaway’s face next to him.
December 5, 2024 at 3:16 AM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
#nw for #worldAIDSday: BUDDIES (1985)
Theatrical poster. Red background with “BUDDIES” in large, black font. In the middle, a black-&-white photo of two people’s hands grabbing each other’s wrist. One is wearing a hospital bracelet. In the bottom corner of the photo, the tagline: “The first dramatic movie about AIDS.”
December 2, 2024 at 3:42 AM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
I’m sorry but Ohtani saying it’s a dream for him to be winning the WS *as a Dodger* means so much to me. He’s home 💙
Excerpt from an interview with Ohtani after winning the NL MVP unanimously: “Andrew [Friedman]’s happy. I was obviously happy but hopefully we can go and do this 9 more times because I obviously have 9 more years on my contract here.” “To be able to do it as a Dodger, it would be a great dream for me.”
November 22, 2024 at 6:23 PM
papidisidentify.bsky.social
Update: watched the colorized version and audibly gasped when this scene came on…
Frame from AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (1973, directed by Larry Clark). A two shot of a Black man sitting in a chair in the foreground, and a Black woman sitting on the sill of a large, open window in the background. They are conversing. The walls of the small room are painted red.
November 17, 2024 at 5:50 PM