On Hyperion Avenue

Hyperion Avenue, dividing the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Silver Lake and Los Feliz, was once the site of numerous bars, bathhouses, and other businesses that served a largely queer clientele. While most have shuttered over the decades, they continue to exist in memories as formative places for community.

Join artists Eve Fowler, Cirilo Domine and Sonji Kimmons for a walk down Hyperion Avenue as each offers a reflection on a queer establishment that once populated the street.

Fowler, the evening’s organizer, will share about Frog Pond, a restaurant and cabaret that was the fire bombed in 1980 in a targeted attack on the gay diners. Domine will recount his time at Cuffs, a bare-bones cruisy bar that operated in the area from 1981 until 2001. The night will conclude with Kimmons reminiscing on her time as a performer at the Other Side, what was considered the last gay piano bar until its closure in 2012.

Eve Fowler lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Expanding from a foundation of photography, her two-dimensional works take the form of billboards, paintings, posters, prints, collages, and signs using mediums such as neon, paper, paint, and vinyl. In addition, she creates installations, films, and sound works made through collaborations with other artists, filmmakers, and writers.

Fowler earned her BA at Temple University in 1986 and her MFA at Yale University in 1992. She has presented solo exhibitions at Gordon Robichaux, NY, Morán Morán, Los Angeles; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland; Participant Inc, New York; and ArtSpace, Sydney, Australia. Public art projects include: A Universal Shudder (curated by Jake Yuzna and BF Hall) for the LAX Art Program (2022); A Spectacle and Nothing Strange (animated by Aimee Goguen and curated by Jeanne Vaccaro and ONE Institute (2022); and The Manifest Destiny Billboard Project on the Interstate 10 Freeway, organized by LAND, 2014. Upcoming shows will be held at Gordon Robichaux in January 2026 and Harvard Radcliffe Institute in February 2026.

Fowler’s work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

In addition to her studio practice, Fowler organizes Artist Curated Projects, a Los Angeles-based curatorial project she co-founded in 2008 with artist Lucas Michael.

Cirilo Domine earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine, in 1996 and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1993. Philippine-born American artist Cirilo Domine's art practice is encyclopedic rather than serial. As a bridge builder, his work points to exchange, reciprocation, and return to the Philippines, Japan, and the United States.

Domine's work is informed by Chado, where he has been a student for fifteen years. His ongoing study of tea culture has led him to a flow of overlapping areas of interests, linking overarching narratives.

He received a Getty undergraduate grant and interned at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Venice, CA. He is also curator, collaborator and activist and worked for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Advocate Gallery.

He has had one-person exhibitions at Deepriver, Commonwealth and Council, the MAK Center at the Schindler House, Pinta Dos/ Philippine Expressions Gallery and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. Group exhibitions include Broad Museum, Wende Museum, and Palm Springs Museum, Del Vaz Projects, Modeka Gallery Manila, Art Salon Chinatown, Sothebys Institute.

Sonji Kimmons is an internationally acclaimed jazz and blues vocalist and pianist whose career spans decades and continents. Raised in Central Los Angeles and steeped in gospel music, she recorded her first solo 45 at age 13 with the legendary Dot Records.

After moving to Europe, she became the lead vocalist for over a decade with Switzerland’s renowned Pepe Lienhard Big Band and fronted the acclaimed funk-rock-jazz group Split, recording four albums. Her performances have taken her to stages worldwide, from the Montreux Jazz Festival and Harrah’s Las Vegas to the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, alongside icons such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Sarah Vaughan, Tina Turner, and Shirley Bassey.

Praised by Variety as “Europe’s wonderful jazz treasure” and described by Rolling Stone as a voice that “keeps you wanting more,” Kimmons is celebrated for her expressive tone, emotional depth, and captivating presence. Today, she continues to embody the spirit of classic American jazz and blues, performing with heart, soul, and timeless artistry.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya: Excerpts & Fragments is presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) and curated by Christopher Mangum-James, LAND deputy director.

Lead support is provided by 2413 Hyperion. Major support is provided by Michael Breland and Peter Harper, Sherry and Joel McKuin, and Abby Pucker. Generous support is provided by Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi. Additional support is provided by Peter Alexander and Scott Craig, Alan Hergott and Curt Shepard, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, and Samuel Vasquez. In-kind support is provided by Special Offer, Inc.

Special thanks to Geraldine Chung, Oscar Peña, Collina Strada, and Vielmetter Los Angeles.

LAND’s 2025 projects are made possible with lead support from the Offield Family Foundation, the Jerry and Terri Kohl Family Foundation, and The Perenchio Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Fran and Ray Stark Foundation, Ben Weyerhaeuser, the Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, Brenda Potter, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and LAND’s Nomadic Council.

Commissions are supported by the LAND Artist Fund with major funding provided by Karyn Kohl. Generous funding is provided by Berry Stein and The Goodman Family Foundation.

LAND is a member of and supported by the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition.

LAND is a member-supported organization. Keep LAND programs free for all by becoming a member today.

Header image courtesy of Kiernan Cobarrubia.