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Los Angeles-based trans photographer and musician Smiles Meyer staged The First Gathering in 2024, a photographic reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper featuring trans models. Meyer told Hyperallergic the work draws on their Catholic upbringing and uses religious imagery to explore and celebrate queer and trans identity. The report does not describe a new exhibition or release date.
Los Angeles photographer and musician Smiles Meyer reimagined Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with trans models in a 2024 photographic work titled The First Gathering, using Christian imagery to explore queer and trans identity. In an interview with Hyperallergic, Meyer connected the project to their upbringing in a conservative Catholic environment and described art as a way to reclaim divinity for people whose identities have been excluded from religious traditions.
The First Gathering recreates the composition of da Vinci’s 1495–98 painting with a group of trans models. Meyer served as creative director. The production 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. The models are identified in the source as Alena, Teague, Joey, JA, Mia, Jules, Annalise, Kat, Bamby, Mars, Chloe, Zaphir and Lena.
Meyer told Hyperallergic that the photograph belongs to a broader body of work shaped by their experience of religion and gender. Earlier projects included a Mary + I cover and nightclub exorcism images made for performance artist Maris. The feature describes the new image as part of Meyer’s effort to work through religious trauma while representing and celebrating their gender identity.
Meyer said their interest in rethinking religious authority was influenced by the writing of philosopher Judith Butler. They described the resulting idea as locating divinity not only in traditional images of God, but within people themselves. That framing informs the decision to place trans people in a composition long associated with Christian art and its depictions of Jesus and his disciples.
Trans Bodies Reframe a Christian Icon
The project’s significance lies in its use of a familiar religious composition to put trans people at its center. Rather than treating the painting as a neutral reference, Meyer’s recreation brings questions of belonging, authority and representation into a visual tradition shaped by Christian narratives. The work is presented as an artistic reinterpretation, not a claim to reproduce the painting’s original religious meaning.
For readers, Meyer’s account also shows how an artist can use images to address personal experience without reducing the work to autobiography alone. The photographer links the project to religious trauma and gender identity, while its staged group portrait makes the subject collective. Hyperallergic places Meyer among queer and trans artists who have reworked religious imagery, including Swedish photographer Elizabeth Ohlson Wallin, whose work has also drawn on scenes such as the Last Supper.
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From Catholic Upbringing to Photography
Meyer grew up in San Diego and was raised in a conservative Catholic environment. They told Hyperallergic they initially wanted to become a poet and were drawn first to writing. After coming out as queer at about 18, Meyer experienced severe depression and began taking medication. They said the medication eased their sadness but also affected their ability to write.
Meyer began taking photographs in 2018. At first, they cut up and rearranged prints into collages to tell stories they felt unable to express in words. The practice changed when Meyer made a photograph they felt was too good to cut apart. Photography then became the focus of a career the feature describes as approaching a decade. The First Gathering builds on this development and on Meyer’s earlier work with religious imagery.
““I was first in love with words.””
— Smiles Meyer, speaking to Hyperallergic
No New Release Is Announced
The source reports on a work staged in 2024, but does not announce a new exhibition, publication, public event or additional release. It also does not provide details about where or when the photograph was first shown, whether it is part of a larger forthcoming series, or whether Meyer plans further reinterpretations of religious works. The feature presents Meyer’s account and the project’s stated aims; it does not report responses from church officials or other religious groups.
Further Presentation Details Remain Open
No next public milestone is specified in the report. Readers seeking updates on The First Gathering will need to look for announcements from Meyer or the venues and publications presenting the work. Until further information is released, the confirmed development is the 2024 photographic recreation and Hyperallergic’s reporting on Meyer’s motivations and process.
Key Questions
What is The First Gathering?
It is Smiles Meyer’s 2024 photographic reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, staged with trans models.
Who made the photograph?
Smiles Meyer, a Los Angeles-based trans photographer and musician, served as creative director. The production also involved a stylist, an intimacy coordinator and movement director, a makeup artist, and a photo and lighting assistant.
Why did Meyer use The Last Supper?
Meyer told Hyperallergic that the work draws on their conservative Catholic upbringing and their interest in rethinking divinity and religious imagery in relation to queer and trans identity.
Has an exhibition or follow-up been announced?
The source does not announce an exhibition, new release or follow-up project. It reports on the work staged in 2024 and Meyer’s account of its origins and meaning.
Source: rss
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