Uncle Donald's Castro Street

UNCLE DONALD'S CASTRO STREET
RAMON VIDALI
local Castro artist

RAMON PABLO VIDALI was a local artist who was often seen on the sidewalks and street corners of the Castro in the late 1970's and early 1980's, capturing the scene and the people on canvas. He had a style which tended to elongate the people in his scenes. The pictures at the left and below are the only pictures I have of him.
I found him painting one Sunday afternoon at Hibernia Beach where a group of exotic dancers had converted the plaza into a scene from Arabian Nights and were performing a free demonstration of belly dancing.

Vidali died on March 17, 1985 of AIDS, but left a legacy of hundreds of his paintings. One of his favorite subjects was the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I believe that Vidali's work stands as an important documentation of life in the Castro in the 1970's and early 1980's.

The picture to the right is a self portrait of the artist and was provided by Stephen Borkowski, a friend of Vidali.

These three pictures of Vidali oil paintings were scanned from postcards which were published by Jebe and Associates, San Francisco in the 1980's and were available free at that time at the establishments pictured on them.

TWIN PEAKS

castro station

CASTRO STATION

Aloha Records

ALOHA RECORDS 18th St.

The photo below was provided by Mitchell Stath, owner of this Vidali image. It is a 24 X 30 inch painting of 18th Street looking toward the intersection with Castro Street. Notice the profusion of men loitering everywhere, some shirtless, all wearing denim jeans. This is not an exaggeration. It really was like this on warm sunny afternoons in the 1970's and early 80's!
Thank You, Mitchell!

18TH STREET AT CASTRO

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This page created November 11, 2000 - revised December 21, 2011