Larry Stanton's Fire Island Photographs Centered in New Exhibition

The exhibition 'Larry Stanton: Friends + Lovers' at Fire Island Pines focuses on the artist's photographs and films, shifting from his well-known portraits and pencil illustrations. Co-curated by Michael Bullock and Fabio Cherstich, the show opened temporarily at 230 Bay Walk before moving to the Fire Island Pines Visitor Centre until 5 August 2026. Stanton's images, taken between 1974 and 1978, capture a post-Stonewall queer community before the AIDS epidemic. The exhibition also includes digitized material by David Hockney from his time with Stanton and a Super 8 film of Hockney working at Ken Tyler's studio. Stanton died of AIDS-related complications in 1984 at age 39.