"Never to proud to beg
Stoop to conquer
Fuck a snake to get ahead"
-Jack Doroshow
Quaintly nestled amongst the bourgeois shops and well tended brownstones of Madison Avenue exists an artist sanctuary with more than 40 years of history. The gate keeper, 70 years young with the grin and tail wag of a puppy is none other than the myth herself, Mother Flawless Sabrina, or as many of us know him, Jack Doroshow.
Defying the status quo since before most of us were born, Jack made a name for himself as the leading lady in the 1968 documentary "The Queen". The Queen represents a time in the sixties when the taboo of drag still scared the masses, before their was a readily accepted visual connotation for the term "Drag Queen". Jack was playing the "mistress of ceremonies" to the touring drag pageants that were happening all around the country, The Queen gives viewers a privileged view behind the scenes and into the dressing rooms of Jack and the contestants who participated in these contests.
My Introductory quote is a quote from one of my first trips to Jack's place, a spontaneous trip made at the request of a close artist friend. Since then, a trip to Jacks has been a welcomed escape, a chance for pure unadulterated, unabashed conversation and usually the chance to connect with other young artists looking for the same outlet. Jack's home is the "Cabaret Voltaire" to my generations anti-establishment, dadaist minds. When you look at the installation of art proposed in Jack's apartment you see the likes of Warhol and Math-you namie coexisting in a way that gives equal value to the art and the ability for it to be viewed and appreciated in a nonchalant way. One of my gripes with galleries, a very recent conversation I had with Jack, is that galleries, for the most part, have the charisma and charm of a morgue. I'd occasionally like to attend a social gathering to view art as opposed to a funeral! Ironically ,if you've been to the Whitney Biennial ,they've even included a hearse in their morgue!
PG: Viewing you as an artist of infinite mediums I want to know what you believe the premise of your work is?
JD: "Respect!" "It's a job, you have to earn it!" Respect yourself, if you have a problem, look it over. Get input from other people and if you surround yourself with people who you respect, that doesn't hurt either.
PG: What are some of your favorite activities?
JD: Sex, writing and walking.
PG: Could you tell me about some of your current inspirations?
JD: The Pixies. They have a lyric in one of their songs "feet in the air, head in the ground", a kind of went through life ass backwards gesture. Illogical, didn't mean to, didn't feel comfortable in the status quo.
PG: What words of wisdom would you propose to other young artists sitting across from you as I am now.
JD: (PG: in no particular order)
1.) Believe in yourself without question, don't question yourself.
2.) The most important word in diplomacy is you.
3.) You learn the most from the people with which you don't agree.
4.) Life is infractious, make your own time, otherwise end up the mystery guest in your own experience.
5.) We live on in the minds of the people we care about and of the people who care about us.
PG: And finally, the one that I found most appetizing, Confucius said" If a man knows what he loves to do, he never has to work another day in his life."
Jack in one of those people you meet once in a life time, a uniquely kind soul with the grin and tail wag of a puppy. I hope that anyone who reads this or gets the chance to go uptown for a visit, will kindly comment and add anything you think I may have left out.
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