Description
Writings, photographs, drawings, journals, videocassettes, chapbooks, personal papers and other materials (1973-2009) from
multimedia artist and musician Gerardo Velázquez, best known as a founding member of the Los Angeles punk band Nervous Gender.
The bulk of the collection is Velázquez's writings and creative projects that include zine-like pamphlets and poetry books;
elements for multimedia art installations; collages, drawings and photographic series; and publicity flyers and posters for
Nervous Gender. The collection also includes personal papers such as journals, notebooks, school records, legal records,
and materials documenting his HIV status.
Background
Gerardo de Jesús Velázquez was born in Mexico in 1958. At a young age, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he later
attended Stevenson Middle School in East Los Angeles. It was at Stevenson where he met his friend Michael Ochoa. The two
later met Edward Stapleton and Phranc, and in 1978, the four of them would form the earliest iteration of the electropunk/technopunk
band Nervous Gender. Nervous Gender recorded one album, Music From Hell, in 1981. Throughout the 1980s, when he was involved
with Nervous Gender, Velázquez attended California State University Los Angeles (CSULA). He continued developing his own
body of artwork that incorporated multiple disciplines and areas of study, including poetry, photography, digital art, video
art, performance art, music, physics, biology, religion, and sexuality. During this time, he also had jobs as a graphic designer
and computer technician. Velázquez died of AIDS-related complications in 1992.
Extent
7.8 Linear Feet
9 boxes.
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.