It's a Jackie Thing

1999, 28:30 min, color, sound

Based on his own video documentation, Atlas constructs a delirious montage of New York club performances from the late 1990s. Impersonators of pop-culture figures, including Martha Graham, Kurt Cobain giving a "final performance," and Sid Vicious lip-syncing to Nancy Sinatra, are emceed by two matronly (and bitingly sarcastic) upper-crust women. Featuring legendary drag, transgender, and queer artists, It's a Jackie Thing celebrates the flexibility of performance art's boundaries: "high" and "low" culture, "good" and "bad" taste, amateurism and professionalism, and, ultimately, gender and identity.

"'Jackie 60' was a weekly party at the nightclub Mother, in New York's Meatpacking District. I went faithfully, every Tuesday night, all through the 90s. I didn't always bring a camera—I usually went just to have fun—but sometimes I shot the performances. … When 'Jackie 60' ended in 1999, the promoters Chi Chi Valenti and Johnny Dynell asked me to contribute a video to show at the closing event. So, I edited together my footage, choosing the best moments. The result captures an era of brilliant drag performance." — Charles Atlas

Featuring: Anohni, Joey Arias, DANCENOISE, Mark Dendy, The Dueling Bankheads (David Ilku and Clark Render), Connie Fleming, Mona Foot, Hattie Hathaway, Amanda Lepore, Richard Move, Hapi Phace, and many others