Smiles Meyer Queers “The Last Supper”

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Smiles Meyer’s 2024 photo series The First Gathering recreates Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models. In an interview with Hyperallergic, the Los Angeles-based photographer described the work as a way to explore religious trauma and affirm queer and trans identity through religious imagery.

Los Angeles-based trans photographer and musician Smiles Meyer reimagined Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models in a 2024 photographic series called The First Gathering, according to a Hyperallergic feature. Meyer said the project draws on religious imagery to examine religious trauma and reclaim a sense of divinity in queer and trans identity.

The First Gathering restages the composition of da Vinci’s 1495–98 painting with a group of trans models. The supplied report identifies Meyer as creative director and credits Kaley Azambuja as stylist, Scout Nankin as intimacy coordinator and movement director, @hot_at_the_party as makeup artist, and Betty Connolly as photo and lighting assistant. The models are named in the report’s caption.

Meyer told Hyperallergic that making art has helped them work through the effects of growing up in a conservative Catholic environment. The series is part of a wider body of work that includes a project titled Mary + I and nightclub exorcism photographs made for performance artist Maris. The report presents these projects as connected explorations of faith, gender, and identity.

Meyer began taking photographs in 2018, after first pursuing poetry and making collages from printed photographs. They told Hyperallergic that photography became a way to tell stories they had struggled to express in words. The feature links that shift in practice to Meyer’s interest in religious imagery and in challenging who gets represented as divine.

Recasting Sacred Imagery

By placing trans people within a composition widely recognized from Christian art, The First Gathering brings questions of representation and religious belonging into the frame. Meyer’s approach is personal as well as visual: the report connects the work to their upbringing in the Catholic Church and their effort to process religious trauma through art.

The project also sits within a broader practice of queer and trans artists reworking religious images. Hyperallergic cites Swedish photographer Elizabeth Ohlson Wallin as another artist who has recreated scenes including the Last Supper. Meyer’s series adds a specific trans-centered interpretation, while the available report does not establish how audiences or religious institutions have responded.

From Poetry to Photography

Meyer grew up in San Diego, California, and initially hoped to become a poet. They told Hyperallergic that they fell in love with words first. After coming out as queer at about 18, Meyer experienced severe depression and began taking antidepressants. They said the medication reduced their sadness but also affected their ability to write; the account is Meyer’s description of their experience, not a general claim about medication.

In 2018, Meyer began photographing and cutting up printed images to make collages. They continued until they took a photograph they felt was too good to alter. The report describes this as the starting point for their photography career, which by the time of the feature had lasted nearly a decade, according to Meyer’s account.

Meyer also credited philosopher Judith Butler’s writing with shaping their thinking about trans identity and creation. In the feature, Meyer described moving away from the idea that divinity belongs only to Jesus or a distant God, and toward the idea that it can exist within people. This framework helps explain the spiritual language Meyer brings to the series.

“I was first in love with words.”

— Smiles Meyer, speaking to Hyperallergic

Audience Response Remains Unreported

The supplied report does not state when the photographs were first exhibited or published beyond identifying the series as a 2024 project. It also gives no information about plans for a future exhibition, sales, or additional images. Meyer’s interpretation of the work is documented through their interview, but the material does not provide responses from the models, viewers, or religious organizations.

The report describes the series as a reclamation of religious imagery, but it does not claim that the project represents all trans people or all Catholic experiences. The extent of the series, the setting in which it was presented, and any later developments are not specified in the source material.

No Further Plans Announced

The source material does not announce a next exhibition, publication, or related project. For now, the confirmed development is the 2024 series and Hyperallergic’s feature on Meyer’s practice. Any future presentation or continuation of The First Gathering remains unreported.

Key Questions

What is The First Gathering?

The First Gathering is Smiles Meyer’s 2024 photographic series, which recreates Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models.

Who created the series?

Smiles Meyer, a Los Angeles-based trans photographer and musician, served as creative director. Hyperallergic also credits a stylist, an intimacy coordinator and movement director, a makeup artist, a photo and lighting assistant, and the models.

What does Meyer say the project is about?

Meyer told Hyperallergic that their work explores religious trauma and reclaims religious imagery to affirm queer and trans identity. That description reflects Meyer’s stated perspective.

Has a future exhibition been announced?

The supplied report does not mention a future exhibition or other next step for The First Gathering.

Source: rss