Jimmy DeSana (1949–90) was a key figure in the New York downtown scene of the 1970s and 80s who sadly passed away far too young from an AIDS-related illness. Nevertheless, he created a body of photography that evinces a singular style typified by concealed figures, saturated colours and surreal mise-en-scène, with subject matter that shows the artist’s fascination with American suburbia and queer fetish subculture in equal measure. Throughout his career, DeSana seamlessly blended the tropes of fashion photography, camp sensibility and experimental art, resulting in images that are simultaneously relatable in their use of quotidian settings, yet entirely otherworldly in their depiction. DeSana grew up in Atlanta, GA, and received his bachelor’s degree from the Georgia State University in 1972 before relocating to New York’s East Village in the early 1970s.