Sean DeLear
Birth nameAnthony Robertson
Birth date1964
Death dateSeptember 5, 2017 (aged 53)
Death placeVienna, Austria
OccupationMusician, artist

Sean DeLear (1964 – September 5, 2017)[1] was a member of the “Silver Lake scene” of postpunk and powerpop artists and musicians living in Los Angeles's in the 1980s and 1990s.[2][3][4] They were the lead singer of the band Glue.[5]

Work

DeLear was a collaborator with performance-based artists such as Vaginal Davis, Brian Grillo, and Kembra Pfahler.[6] Later, DeLear was in the art collective Gelitin and performed as a solo cabaret artist in Sean DeLear on the Rocks.[7][8]

They were a cultural boundary breaker and transcended sexuality, race, age, genres, and scenes.[9][10]

In 2022, Semiotext(e) published, I Could Not Believe It, The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear by Sean DeLear.[11][12][13] The book chronicles the early years of his burgeoning queerness and punk community in California, notably becoming a pioneer members of the “Silver Lake scene” of post-punk and power pop and one of the few black artist in the scene during that time. The book includes an introduction by writer and artist Brontez Purnell and was co-edited by writer and editor Michael Bullock and Cesar Padilla.[14][15]

A reading for the book was held at the Poetry Project Fall of 2023 and featured readers like Xander Aviance, Kyle Carrero Lopez, Anne Hanavan, K8 Hardy, Juliana Huxtable, Kembra Pfahler, and Journey Streams.[16]

The Life of Sean DeLear, a documentary film about DeLear by Markus Zizenbacher, premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in 2024.[17]

Publications

References

  1. ^ Lecaro, Lina (2017-09-08). "R.I.P. Sean DeLear, the Fabulous Glue Front(wo)man Who Made L.A. Shine Brighter - LA Weekly". Retrieved 2025-04-29. Cross-dressing punk singer, party maven and ubiquitous L.A. scene-stealer Anthony Robertson, better known as Sean DeLear, died in Vienna Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with liver cancer.
  2. ^ "Sean DeLear". MIT Press. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  3. ^ Weekly, L. A. (2017-09-08). "R.I.P. Sean DeLear, the Fabulous Glue Front(wo)man Who Made L.A. Shine Brighter". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  4. ^ Stegall, Tim (August 3, 2021). "Kid Congo Powers on his new EP and the LGBTQIA+ roots of punk". Alternative Press Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  5. ^ "I Could Not Believe It". blackwells.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  6. ^ Blanks, Tim (2022-12-15). "Rick Owens and Ron Athey were born from the sociosexual underworlds of Los Angeles". Document Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  7. ^ "Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds: Swing From the Sean DeLear". PopMatters. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  8. ^ Trembley, Nicolas (March 4, 2008). "Nicolas Trembley on Gelitin at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  9. ^ Morrison, Rachael (May 16, 2014). "Sean DeLear | PARIS LA". Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  10. ^ "The Artist's Round Table: Legendary Figures On Generating Queer Counterculture". www.out.com. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  11. ^ "I Could Not Believe It". MIT Press. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  12. ^ Purnell, Sean DeLear and Brontez (2023-03-27). "I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear". The Paris Review. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  13. ^ "Book Launch for I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear". The Poetry Project. 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  14. ^ "Queer Punk Icon Sean DeLear's 1979 Diary Becomes a Memoir". W Magazine. 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  15. ^ "Dale Corvino with Cesar Padilla — 'Bonds & Boundaries' and 'I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear' | Third Place Books". www.thirdplacebooks.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  16. ^ "Book Launch for I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear". The Poetry Project. 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  17. ^ Valerie Complex, "Frameline Unveils Full Lineup For 2024 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood, May 22, 2024.