JEAN PHILIP DE TENDER

Although younger for several years, Steven was the first to introduce me to gay nightlife. I vaguely recall a Saturday evening when my mother suggested I join Steven for an evening out. Why not? We drove to a small gay nightclub in Gent. I remember we had to go down the stairs, and in that almost black box, the gay youth would meet. The conversation between Steven and I revolved around a couple of dandies there who were the queens of the night. I had just read Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” and life was beautiful.

I’ve Seen the Future and I’m Not Going

– David McDermott

At the time, Steven also introduced me to the life and works of McDermott & McGough, two New York visual artists who end of the ‘80s and ‘90s, grew immensely popular. Remember, this was when Madonna just became a star, but these guys dressed up like they lived early 20^th century.

40 years later, I have left the dandies behind, including McDermott & McGough. Steven, who moved to Normandy, I now only see every few years. Two weeks ago, Amy Selwyn, another friend of mine, pointed in her newsletter to the autobiography of Peter McGough, which she had read and made her think of her years in New York in that period.

I devoured the book. It depicts the success and fall of their artistic and personal life, how they lived like in the past (without electricity and modern comfort), and how they connected with the art scene in New York (Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, …).

AIDS is also a leading actor in the book, with many of their friends dying from this then uncurable disease. A touching chapter is when McGough describes when he discovered he was positif, and how stupid he could be to think that raw food would cure him.

McDermott&McGough, no longer a couple, continue to collaborate. They spend their time between Dublin and New York.

Peter McGough, “I’ve Seen the Future and I’m Not Going”, Pantheon Books, New York, 2019.