NEONS

It's hard for me to write an introduction for this interview... Ex-L.A. punk, ex-Rozz Williams (Christian Death)'s boyfriend, ex-drug addict, seropositive, extreme performance artist, writer, what other words can I use to describe RON ATHEY? This man's life is incredible and so is his work... (Raph Gordon) Where did you grow up? Your work is dotted with religious symbols. Is there a link to your life as a child? I grew up in Pomona California, the gateway to the Inland Empire (I'm only proud of that regional reference after the same-named  DavidLynch film  with the genius line,  ''do you know how to get the bus to Pomona?'' ) Yes the religious lens, raised Pentecostal in a Catholic neighborhood. So the obsession with Spiritualism and ecstasis is from my family's religion, but the iconography from catholic. What were your first contacts with punk rock? As a teen, between 15-18, I went to an all-ages disco called Odyssey, there was ...

Vintage Books (USA). 1991. Serpent à Plumes (France). 2004.   "A number of months ago I read in the newspaper that there was a supreme court ruling which states that homosexuals in america have no constitutional rights against the government's invasion of their privacy. The paper states that homosexuality is traditionally condemned in america & only people who are heterosexual or married or who have families can expect those constitutional rights. There were no editorials. Nothing. Just flat cold type in the morning paper informing people of this. In most areas of the u.s.a it is possible to murder a man & when one is brought to trial, one has only to say that the victim was a queer & that he tried to touch you & the courts will set you free. When I read the newspaper article I felt something stirring in my hands; I felt a sensation like seeing oneself from miles above the earth or looking at one's reflection in a mirror through the wrong end of a ...