​Dear Jerome Lovers . . .

Thank you all for your patience, especially over the last few years when we hunkered down behind closed doors during the worst of COVID. I have been really productive during this time. Not only have I been working intensely on the film, but I have also been working on various exhibitions, publications, presentations and fundraising opportunities that I am excited to share with you.
​
Jerome’s brilliant, long lasting contributions to the world came out of the AIDS pandemic in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Unsurprisingly, 28 years after his death in 1995, his challenging art has reemerged and now thrives stronger than ever in the wake of another pandemic.

Jerome Loves to Revel in the Messiness of Humanity
​
When the world first tried to open back up in June of 2021 and we were all trying to find some new sense of normalcy from COVID lockdown, shockingly we found ourselves quarantined again and watched as everyone retreated back into their homes. During this time I was working with Anglim/Trimble Gallery on a solo Jerome exhibition. Nothing stopped that exhibition from happening. Mask mandates were back in place and community gatherings were either abruptly canceled or heavily monitored and extremely pared down.

​Regardless, the show went on. FOUND: The Lost Art of Jerome Caja was a success on many fronts. Even with limited and staggered accessibility for viewing and little public programming, the show significantly moved the needle forward for Jerome, especially the film. The show teased out the ending to my documentary. My patience has paid off over all these years. I cannot wait to share it with you in its completed form. It is heart-felt, uncompromising, enlightening and totally in alignment with Jerome.

Now with that said, I am currently in the production phase, building a rough assembly cut of the documentary. The following highlights (all of which have propelled the film forward and many of which will be included in the film) are what I have been up to over the last several years.

DOCUMENTARY FILM

When I ventured on this crazy journey back in 2010 I wanted to shine a light on Jerome's brilliance as a Painter, Prankster, Performer and spotlight the cultural impact he had on queer San Francisco in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Over the years as I became inundated with Jerome’s work and life story, I realized the documentary also needs to explore — Who is the man behind the scary drag mask? Where is his place in the larger contemporary art narrative?  And why is he not a household name like Hieronymus Bosch, Oscar Wilde and Divine?

​With this new, deeper trajectory, I found a bizarre and fascinating story with a wildly different end to the film. Discovering a unique ending is what every documentarian grapples with, and it is why most docs never make it out of development. It all comes down to a really good transformational story that lands on an unexpected ending, and it has to be told in an interesting way that is unlike any other film out there.
​

• I completely rewrote my film treatment with a five-act story structure and powerful new ending. This is now the scaffolding for the doc. It is complex, theatrical and cinematic.​
  ​
• I started storyboarding hand-drawn 2/D animation sequences that will be peppered throughout the film. They have a traditional fine-art look that compliments Jerome’s weird, witchy warmth.
  
  
• I am privately workshopping the film with art advisors, film producers, and Jerome collectors who have been extremely supportive. Some are new and many of them have been with me since the inception of this project. Their response has been extremely helpful and affirming.
  
  
• I have a new office at Ninth Street Independent Film Center (IFC), which is in San Francisco’s Civic Center area and in an office building that used to be the old Film Arts Foundation. I am part of a filmmaker residency and incubator program that is under the same roof as independent film organizations like Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), Frameline (LGBTQ+ Film Festival), Jewish Film Institute (JFI & Jewish Film Festival) and Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). I could not be positioned better at this stage of production.
  ​
• I am cataloging all of my archival footage. This media is the foundation of the documentary, and it changed the final form of the film, which is now a three-part docuseries. This is a huge turn of events. Originally I set out to make a short, which then quickly turned into a feature, and appropriately is now a docuseries. This new three-part format allows for a definitive, more complex story on Jerome, and most importantly it allows the viewer to take Jerome (and his life story) in digestible bites. Docuseries are now the preferred format for viewers and streaming platforms.
  
  
• I have over 75% of my principal photography in the can. This footage illustrates where Jerome is today. It includes interviews with Adam Klein, Ana van der Meulen, Bernardine Caja (Jerome’s mother), and several other family members in Ohio. The bulk of it was shot in San Francisco (my home & various galleries) and Cleveland (several homes of friends & family). The Cleveland shoot was intense. It was done over 7 days, 12 hours per day, and I got pure gold on film!
  
  
• I am also recording audio interviews for the film and repository. I commissioned Paul Karlstrom to do a two-day intensive oral history interview with Anna van der Meulen. After the doc comes out, I will donate Anna’s interview to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art as a companion piece to Paul’s original oral history interview with Jerome.
  
  
• I have been collaborating with the composer Daniel De Togni. We met through the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), and since then he has composed several beautiful classical piano pieces specifically for the film's score and soundtrack.
  
  
• I have been filming and documenting all of the exhibitions I curated over the past years (including the most recent, FOUND: The Lost Art of Jerome Caja, and also the pop-up show I did at SFMOMA a while back), all of which will be highlights in the docuseries.
  ​
• I am currently working with several couples who have significant collections of Jerome’s art that I had not seen before. They have been very generous with their time and allowed me to document their collections. They are also looking forward to having their art be a big part of the finished film.

FUNDRAISING

I have been very fortunate to receive two early-on development grants from Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) that were funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This is how I digitized more than 100 hours of video. I have also been given several residencies that include below-market-rate rent for office space in San Francisco by SFFILM and Ninth Street Independent Film Center, where I am currently.

​Aside from that, I have never asked for or borrowed money from anyone. Most documentary filmmakers do multiple fundraising campaigns (development, production & distribution) and end up taxing their supporters. I chose to not go this route. Instead, I personally bank-rolled the other 85% of development and pre-production costs, with the help from a handful of generous angel investors close to the project who supported the film shoots.

This combined support has allowed me to move at a strong, secure pace with the film.
​
Now that I am squarely in the production phase, I will eventually need financing to pay for an editor and VFX animator in the post-production phase. This is the most costly part of the filmmaking process. In 8-10 months I will be positioned perfectly for the launch of my online finishing-fund campaign. Stay tuned for details.

PLEASE NOTE: This entire list of accomplishments and works in progress is abridged, and I am happy to share more in person with anyone interested. My office is always open to you. I am also open to all kinds of fundraising suggestions (private & public) and am happy to bring The Jerome Project to you in the privacy of your home if you are in the Bay Area or Greater Los Angeles area.

Thank You for Your Support

In closing, ​I want to give a big, heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has shared their stories and art with me. I could not be doing this without your generosity and help.

If anybody else wants to participate, again feel free to contact me. The project just keeps getting stronger the more people who love Jerome get involved. I am happy to meet and discuss practical, doable collaborations, especially with museums interested in a Jerome Caja retrospective. Any museum contacts and leads are greatly appreciated in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Cleveland, New York, and Europe. You can contact me here through The Jerome Project website and schedule a visit.

I look forward to updating again soon.
​​

Joan Jett Blakk is a fabulous drag persona created by Terence Alan Smith. She is most famously known for her Democratic presidential campaign against George W. Bush in 1992 — "Joan Jett Blakk for President." Her political aspirations were inspired by activist groups like ACT-UP and Queer Nation and their fight for visibility during the AIDS crisis.

Joan Jett Blakk was also a dear friend of Jerome, and she used her Oprah Winfrey-style platform as a way to help promote him and his art. Jerome was a special guest on the infamous Joan Jett Blakk Show, at Josie’s Juice Joint, along with other radical queers like Rena McDonald (aka Adam Klein) and Lynn Breedlove & Leslie Mah’s fierce SF LGBTQ+ punk band, Tribe-8.​

​Jerome Caja was a master American painter and skag-drag performer. He was at the center of San Francisco  late 80’s and early 90’s queer counter culture movement of art, AIDS and activism. He used trash, found objects, and anything you might find in a drag queen’s hand bag (lipstick, eye liner, makeup, nail polish, etc.) as his medium of choice in his paintings and his apocalyptic drag. Jerome died in 1995 from complications related to HIV & AIDS. Twenty-five years after his death, our culture is only just now starting to catch up with his vision.​

Joan Jett Blakk is a fabulous drag persona created by Terence Alan Smith. She is most famously known for her Democratic presidential campaign against George W. Bush in 1992 — "Joan Jett Blakk for President." Her political aspirations were inspired by activist groups like ACT-UP and Queer Nation and their fight for visibility during the AIDS crisis.

Joan Jett Blakk was also a dear friend of Jerome, and she used her Oprah Winfrey-style platform as a way to help promote him and his art. Jerome was a special guest on the infamous Joan Jett Blakk Show, at Josie’s Juice Joint, along with other radical queers like Rena McDonald (aka Adam Klein) and Lynn Breedlove & Leslie Mah’s fierce SF LGBTQ+ punk band, Tribe-8.​
​
LINK: Official Joan Jett Blakk Website

Juanita MORE! is a denizen of the limelight. For almost three decades the tireless hostess has blitzed San Francisco with high glamour, drag irreverence, danceable beats, culinary delectables, political activism and a philanthropic heart that has illuminated the entire city. Juanita remains a creation of fashion and glamour, generosity and nerve, inspiring those around her to make a positive difference in their lives and in their communities, doing it all with a timeless elegance and an innovative spirit.

LINK: Official Juanita MORE! Website

Jerome Caja was a master American painter and skag-drag performer. He was at the center of San Francisco  late 80’s and early 90’s queer counter culture movement of art, AIDS and activism. He used trash, found objects, and anything you might find in a drag queen’s hand bag (lipstick, eye liner, makeup, nail polish, etc.) as his medium of choice in his paintings and his apocalyptic drag. Jerome died in 1995 from complications related to HIV & AIDS. Twenty-five years after his death, our culture is only just now starting to catch up with his vision.​

LINK: Official Jerome Caja Website

To this day, these three drag sisters, Joan Jett Blakk, Juanita Moore & Jerome Caja, are pioneers. They challenge us in different ways with their own provocative political drag art.

​Marching for Gay Freedom as opposed to passively “Celebrating” “Pride” is a necessary return to the event’s origins as a protest (see Win Mixter’s Pride is a Protest website here). It is also a well-needed shift away from the toothless rainbow capitalism we have grown accustomed to for 20+ years.

If Jerome were alive today, he would have joined in this march. He would have scrounged up his Sunday best skimpy lingerie, slathered on some cheap makeup, and marched behind Joan Jett Blakk and Juanita Moore as their freaky white sister-caboose. The Jerome Project actually has vintage VHS footage of Jerome doing this. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Jerome marched with the Chaos & Uranus contingent in Gay Pride, and instead of joining everyone on the float, Jerome chose to walk alone, behind the truck, as his own freaky individual float. Like always he stole the show.

All of this is in direct alignment with everything Jerome believed in and painted — radical social change!

We Hope to See You There

​If for whatever reason you are unable to join us on Sunday June 28th, but would still like to contribute, you can also make a financial donation to the GoFundMe page for the People’s March & Rally here — THANK YOU & STAY SAFE!

It Is Moments Like This When I Miss Jerome the Most

Today I woke up and read the top news story of the day in the New York Times — “Civil Rights Law Protects L.G.B.T. Workers, Supreme Court Rules.” This is something so basic and fundamental that it’s shocking it even needed to be discussed in 2020. These are essential human rights we all deserve.

The first thought that crossed my mind after reading the Times headline was — “I cannot wait to see who is going to take to the streets today and celebrate!”
​​

Politics Jerome's Way

Back in the 90’s Jerome Caja was always one of the first to dress up in drag and take to the streets of San Francisco in celebration of major LGBTQ+ victories. He would create a fabulous, scary, creature-of-the-night drag persona and proudly strut like a mangy peacock through the streets and alleyways in broad daylight. He was also a fixture at all the queer street fairs and holiday celebrations (Folsom Street Fair, Dore Alley Fair, Castro Street Fair, Gay Freedom Day / Gay Pride Parade, etc).

Daniel Nicoletta’s 1990 photo is an iconic and famous picture that captures Jerome in skag-drag on Halloween night in front of the Castro Theater. What you might not know is that Jerome handmade his spongy jewelry, Flintstone-style hair comb, and the perky, ruby-red fruity nipples that spring forth from his little girly bra.

Jim James’s 1990 photo is also another iconic image of Jerome. Here he is in San Francisco’s Civic Center dressed as Konnie Krishna with her leopard skin lingerie, rubber bald cap and plastic food jewelry accessories (glazed doughnut earring & kielbasa chain-link necklace).

Jerome was well informed when it came to politics and valued the importance of the voting process — especially with regards to California and local issues. In true Jerome fashion, he did it his own way. Jerome would get the local papers and gay rags (Sentinel, B.A.R., Bay Guardian, Chronicle, Examiner), read up on politicians, and discuss politics with his friends.
​

Activism Jerome's Way

Another lovely, little-known fact about Jerome is that he was an activist at heart, and he used his art as both a weapon and an educational tool. Jerome’s painting — The Happy Solders [sic], addressed 90’s politics about gays in the military and the heated controversy surrounding Senator Sam Nunn.

Nunn was a conservative Democratic politician who strongly supported the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy and actively worked to prevent gays and lesbians from serving in the military. 

This painting illustrates how Jerome resisted and protested through his art. He knew he had a platform and a medium that reached people. He powerfully shared his views and insights with his community and, ultimately, the world.

If you look closely at this painting, you will see how Jerome used symbolism and satire to tell a complex political story. Humor and horror, along with clever, contradictory images are all part of Jerome’s provocative, artistic arsenal. He painted Nunn as a demonic nun with blood on one hand and a fiery crucifix in the other. To make this piece even creepier, Nunn’s flesh was painted with glow-in-the-dark nail polish. To contrast Nunn’s evil, Jerome painted an interracial gay couple tenderly holding each other arm-in-arm. The yellow smiley face wearing an army helmet and war paint is a perfect expression of Jerome’s subversive, kitschy humor.
​

2020 Foresight

The longer I study The Happy Solders, the more I realize Jerome was painting the future. Religious hypocrisy exposed; gays openly serving in the military; broad acceptance of interracial relationships —  Jerome served up all of this with his signature black humor. It’s a political fuck you that says, “I told you so!”  

Today was an extraordinary, historical decision by the Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ+ rights. I know that if Jerome were still alive today, he would have taken to the streets. We would have laughed together in celebration, and he surely would have painted about it too.
​

Jerome Caja is Honored and Remembered for His Radical Self-Expression in San Francisco's “Art on Market Street Poster Series” —  June through August 2020

Check out Win Mixter’s new “JEROME CAJA: Pride is a Protest” poster on the Muni bus shelter at the northeast corner of 7th & Market in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. It is part of the “Art on Market Street Poster Series” from the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC), in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Gay Freedom Day.

It is a fabulous, large, double-sided, B&W poster. If you look closely, Win Mixter incorporates all of Jerome’s iconic imagery from his paintings and drag performances (nailpolish bottles, crucifixes, scary clowns, eggs, birds, worms, cocks, lingerie, smiley faces, frowning faces, and angel wings). In the center is a powerful portrait inspired by Catherine Opie’s famous 1993 cibachrome print of Jerome. I love that Win chose to have Jerome’s eyes closed. It perfectly captures Jerome’s centrality and centeredness during the explosive years of AIDS, activism, and art in San Francisco during the late 80’s and early 90’s.
 
Thank you Win Mixter and SFAC for including Jerome Caja in your 2020 Art on Market Street Series.

I also want to do a very special shout-out to Craig Corpora (Public Art Programming Associate at SFAC) for constantly keeping Jerome’s spirit alive in San Francisco — THANK YOU CRAIG!

Jerome Caja (detail) 1993
by Catherine Opie​​

© 1989-2020 Ric Warren, Muzzle Slut Production, Length: 00:09:57

CONTENT NOT ALLOWED ON YOUTUBE:
Hate speech, predatory behavior, graphic violence, malicious attacks, and content that promotes harmful or dangerous behavior isn't allowed on YouTube.

NUDITY & SEXUAL CONTENT:
Don’t post content on YouTube if it has any of the items below.

• Depiction of genitals, breasts, or buttocks (clothed or unclothed) for the purpose of sexual gratification
• Pornography depicting sexual acts, genitals, or fetishes for the purpose of sexual gratification

CHILD SAFETY ON YOUTUBE:
Misleading family content that targets young minors and families, but contains:

• Sexual themes
• Violence
• Obscenity or other mature themes not suitable for young audiences
• Family friendly cartoons that target young minors and contain adult or age-inappropriate themes such as violence, sex, death, drugs etc.

Other Jerome Caja Content by Ric Warren that is still up on YouTube:
PLEASE NOTE: Both of these videos are animated slideshows
​

On this special evening, SFMOMA partners with Visual AIDS to honor collection artist Jerome Caja (1958–1995).

Join artists Justin Vivian Bond and Cliff Hengst, as well as Anthony Cianciolo, founder of The Jerome Project, for a conversation with Visual AIDS staff about Caja’s life, work, and legacy.

A San Francisco Art Institute alum, Caja was a powerful visual artist, drag performer, and provocateur who transgressed the supposed boundaries of gender, performance, and art in the nightclub and art-world scenes of San Francisco during the late 1980s and early ‘90s. In his visual art practice, Caja was known for using unconventional materials — ranging from nail polish and eyeliner to human ashes — to express themes of spirituality, mortality, and sexuality.

​This evening will include a presentation of rare archival video clips and ephemera from the artist, and is also the West Coast launch for the Visual AIDS book, DUETS: Nayland Blake and Justin Vivian Bond on Jerome Caja, which will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be served.

​Candystore’s Blue Devil & Blond Venus

Several months back Nayland Blake put me in contact with his friend Jarett Earnest, an art writer. Jarrett was looking to secure permission to use Jerome’s painting​ The Ascension of the Fruit Bowl on the cover of a new chapbook titled Hi Angels. The book is a collection of short poems written by Candystore. Each poem begins with the phrase “Hi angel” and then takes you on an unexpected journey.

It was a delight reading the elegant mock-up Jarett sent. I could easily see Jerome’s art paired with these poems. I was also intrigued by the name Candystore. Once I landed on Candystore’s website, I had a blast looking at provocative images of her in various outrageous, colorful, skimpy, flamboyant drag outfits (www.hicandy.store).

The similarity between Jerome and Candystore is uncanny. Both sexualize fruit and flowers while wearing little more than bits of lace. Candystore reminds me of Jerome in Ric Warren’s infamous San Francisco photo shoots!

I quickly learned that Candystore is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and performer from San Jose who now lives in New York City. I loved the creative use of “She-he” as a gender-fuck pronoun on Candystore’s about page. It cleverly and powerfully flips the derogatory “He-she” phrase used in the early 80’s & 90’s to dismissively describe transvestites, transexuals and crossdressers.

Eventually Candystore and I talked on the phone. Within a matter of days we worked together to get permission from SFMOMA to allow us to use their high-resolution image of The Ascension of the Fruit Bowl. Claudia La Rocco and David Rozelle at SFMOMA helped expedite this process while under a tight deadline. Once the cover design was established, Candystore surprised me at the last minute by deciding to dedicate Hi Angels to Jerome. She asked me for six or seven more images of works by Jerome to use as illustrations throughout the book. How could I say no to that!

Clearly, Candystore gets Jerome and wants to introduce him to a whole new audience!

Candystore and I then sifted through a stack of images of Jerome’s art until she picked some beautiful pieces that have never been published before. The painting Hot Coffee To Go was one of them, along with a personal favorite of mine, a marvelous untitled metal container painting with a blond, nude Venus on one side, and a blue, nude devil on the other (see images attached). If you look closely at the Venus/Devil piece you will see Venus has a phallus and is standing on her half shell while riding the waves and holding a runny egg over her head. On the flip side of the piece, a smirking devil, standing on a pile of burning human skulls, holds a heated cast-iron skillet over his head, ready to fry an egg. Both of these images are painted on the outside of a metal clam-shell business-card case. Jerome’s lovely works of art are a beautiful complement to Candystore’s writing!

I know if Jerome were around today, he would be tickled pink to see his paintings published in this beautiful art book, Hi Angels, and I have no doubt the two of them would have been drag sisters.

Thank you, Candystore, it has been an honor to collaborate with you!

Candystore's book of poems, HI Angels, was made possible through the Shannon Michael Cane Memorial Fund, a grant awarded to first time exhibitors at Printed Matter’s Art Book Fair. As the previous organizer of Printed Matter’s Art Book Fair, Shannon Michael Cane (1974 - 2017) championed queer artists, DIY bookmakers, and freaks of all stripes.

​
​Sneak Peak of the Jerome Caja Exhibit

​This is a panoramic video illustrating the 118 pieces of Jerome Caja's artwork displayed on the 4th floor gallery of Wrightwood 659. The show is installed in five sections: Transgress, Transfigure, Transpose, Transform, and Transcend. Jerome is showcased on the top floor, in the Transcend section.

Jerome at Royal Nonesuch Gallery in Oakland

​Matt Sussman kindly invited me to speak about Jerome Caja on a panel that he organized titled Real Fictional Depth. This is in conjunction with the current exhibition, Objects of Mutual Affection, that features art from various New Narrative writers' homes, including a painting by Jerome on loan from Bruce Boone.

​Matt wanted to open up a discussion about Jerome’s legendary, rule-breaking, San Francisco underground queer performances.

​Thank You Steven Wolf, Meg Shiffler & Maysoun Wazwaz
​
Last month I was thrilled to get a call from Steven Wolf (independent curator & gallerist) asking if I could help locate some of Jerome’s art. Steven has long been a champion and lover of Jerome’s work. He was looking for a wide range of Jerome’s art — tip trays, crinkle paintings, container paintings, reliquaries, etc. — from San Francisco collectors. It was important for Steven to have Jerome in this show.

In addition, I want to give a very special shout out and thank you to both Meg Shiffler (Director of SFAC Galleries) and Maysoun Wazwaz (Manager of Education and Public Programs at SFAC Galleries) for making all the thankless, logistical work that goes into creating a show like Tiny Bubbles.