Jerry Dreva

Jerry Dreva
Jerry Dreva Dreva 1981

Jerry Dreva (1945–1997) was an artist, writer, performer, activist and teacher from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a principal proponent of “mail-art." His efforts were concentrated in the areas of self-documentation and performance, and characterized by a sense of whimsy and irreverence. He often employed subterfuge and a wry sense of humor in order to carry out these aims. His performances often included the use of media and in particular the printed word.

In one of his most famous performances he would sneak out at night and spray paint public buildings in South Milwaukee. The next morning, in his role as a reporter for the local South Milwaukee weekly, the Voice-Journal, he would report glowingly on these graffiti events sometimes signed by the “Art Gangster” thus creating a counter-cultural figure and simultaneously influencing the way in which that figure was portrayed in the media. It was a ruse that lasted several years.

Active in the local civil rights and anti-war movements in the late 1960s, he became increasingly devoted to the cause of gay rights on the local and national level. He was a founding member (together with Robert J. Lambert) of Les Petite Bon Bons, a flamboyantly attired musical group that never played a single concert. In fact, they never so much as picked up an instrument. Instead they dressed as glitter rock musicians of the era (1970’s) and were frequently featured in newspapers and magazines as Les Petite Bon Bons.

As a mail artist he corresponded with individuals well known for their work in this field including On Kawara, Ray Johnson, Ben Vautier, Coum Transmissions, General Idea and members of Asco. His work was included in countless mail art exhibits both nationally and internationally, including Extended Sensibilities: Homosexual Presence in Contemporary Art at the New Museum in New York in 1982.

During the 1980s Dreva became increasingly interested Latin America, learning Spanish and spending considerable time in Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central and South American countries, studying revolutionary movements. He was a supporter of the Shining Path in Peru, but adamant in insisting that gay rights be included in their agenda.

He died of a heart attack at his home in Milwaukee at the age of fifty-two. More recently his work has attracted the attention of a growing number of writers and curators and has been featured in catalogs and exhibitions from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).