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Los Angeles-based photographer and musician Smiles Meyer staged The First Gathering in 2024, reimagining Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models. In an interview with Hyperallergic, Meyer described the project as part of an artistic practice shaped by growing up Catholic and exploring queer and trans identity through religious imagery. The report does not describe a new release or exhibition announcement.
Los Angeles-based photographer and musician Smiles Meyer staged The First Gathering in 2024, a photograph that reimagines Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models. In a feature and interview, Hyperallergic describes the work as part of Meyer’s effort to explore religious trauma and celebrate queer and trans identity through Christian imagery.
The First Gathering restages the composition of da Vinci’s 1495–98 painting with a group of trans models. Meyer served as creative director. The credited team also included stylist Kaley Azambuja, intimacy coordinator and movement director Scout Nankin, makeup artist @hot_at_the_party, and photo and lighting assistant Betty Connolly. Hyperallergic’s caption names the models pictured as Alena, Teague, Joey, JA, Mia, Jules, Annalise, Kat, Bamby, Mars, Chloe, Zaphir and Lena.
Meyer told Hyperallergic that the project connects to their experience of being raised in a conservative Catholic environment. The feature places the photograph alongside earlier work, including the Mary + I cover and nightclub exorcism photographs made for performance artist Maris. Meyer’s practice uses religious references to examine identity and what they see as the capacity for trans people to claim creative and spiritual power.
The report presents The First Gathering as an artwork and describes Meyer’s motivations through their interview. It does not announce a new exhibition, sale, commission or public event tied to the photograph. The immediate news is the feature’s account of the work and the artist’s reflections, rather than a newly confirmed project or institutional decision.
Reworking a Christian Icon
The Last Supper is a widely recognized religious image, and changing who occupies its central gathering gives Meyer a way to place trans people inside a visual tradition from which they may feel excluded. The photograph’s significance lies in that artistic choice and in Meyer’s stated intention to reclaim religious imagery—not in a reported change to church policy or public consensus.
For readers following contemporary photography, the work also shows how artists use familiar compositions to address personal and communal histories. Meyer’s approach links religious trauma, gender identity and creative authorship. The image asks viewers to consider who is allowed to appear as sacred, while its production credits make visible the collaborators involved in staging it.
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From Catholic Upbringing to Photography
Meyer told Hyperallergic they grew up in San Diego and initially hoped to become a poet. They said they came out as queer at around 18 and later experienced severe depression. Meyer described starting photography in 2018, after finding that medication affected their ability to write. They initially printed, cut and rearranged photographs into collages, then moved toward making images they chose not to alter in that way.
The Hyperallergic feature connects The First Gathering to a wider history of queer and trans artists adapting religious imagery. It cites Swedish artist Elizabeth Ohlson Wallin as another artist who has recreated scenes including the Last Supper. Meyer also credited philosopher Judith Butler’s writing with prompting them to think about how trans people appropriate the power of creation. These references provide context for Meyer’s perspective; they do not establish that the artists share the same aims or methods.
“I was first in love with words.”
— Smiles Meyer, speaking to Hyperallergic
No New Exhibition Details Reported
The feature does not say whether The First Gathering is currently on display, where it can be viewed, or whether Meyer plans to present related work in an exhibition or publication. It also does not report audience response, institutional reactions or any controversy tied to the photograph. Meyer’s account of the work’s meaning is attributable to the artist; the feature does not establish that every viewer interprets the image in the same way.
The supplied report identifies the photograph as a 2024 work but gives no publication date for the Hyperallergic feature. No additional release, event or future project is confirmed in the source material.
No Follow-Up Announcement Yet
No next public milestone is specified in the report. The available information does not confirm a scheduled exhibition, screening, talk or new body of work connected to The First Gathering. Readers seeking viewing information or updates would need to check Meyer’s or the publication’s channels; this source does not provide a date or venue.
For now, the feature documents Meyer’s creative process and the collaborators credited on the 2024 photograph. Any future presentation or related project remains unannounced in the material provided.
Key Questions
What is The First Gathering?
The First Gathering is Smiles Meyer’s 2024 photograph, which reimagines Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models.
Who created the photograph?
Meyer was the photographer and creative director. The feature also credits stylist Kaley Azambuja, intimacy coordinator and movement director Scout Nankin, makeup artist @hot_at_the_party, photo and lighting assistant Betty Connolly, and the models named in its caption.
What does Meyer say inspired the work?
Meyer told Hyperallergic that growing up in a conservative Catholic environment, their experience of religious trauma, and ideas about trans people’s creative power informed the project.
Is an exhibition or new project scheduled?
The feature does not report a scheduled exhibition or follow-up project. A venue, viewing date or future presentation is not confirmed in the source material.
Source: rss
