Queer Spaces: London, 1980s - Today

This exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery was based around a collection of memorabilia that included advertised past events at a number of LGBTQ London venues; bar and club flyers predominate interspersed with leaflets sharing same-sex health information and evidence of political activism pertinent to the times; physical artifacts from closed Queer spaces and photographs of protests around the closing of many of these LGBTQ places due to gentrification are on display.

The exhibition was housed in a single room with glazed cabinets surrounding the walls. Headphones attached to each cabinet provided first-hand spoken testimonials that indicated how life had been for many Queer people during the 80s and onwards. I was quite touched listening to these accounts and hearing how special and safe these places made them feel. The format was well planned as I found my eyes perusing the cabinets as I listened to the spoken commentary, alighting on leaflets and photographs that helped me to understand what I was taking in. This setup was very effective and listening to the spoken word brought the cabinets to life and slowed down my experience of the exhibition, making it more contemplative than a visual perspective alone.

It is important to archive such ephemeral pieces of advertising of long gone clubs and bars and memorable events at these places. For example the physical changes to the layout over time at the 'City of Quebec' pub. It is only in the context of harassment and oppression could these changes be fully understood as the small back rooms and secluded corners make way for a more open plan area; indicating the growing confidence of the Queer community to stand its ground as a minority in a hetero-normative world.

Kiss My Genders - Hayward Gallery

 This show exhibits over a hundred artists pieces of work from thirty five artists over fifty years. It seems timely that this exhibition that looks at the fluidity of gender identity is put on now. There is much discussion over gender neutral toilets, self identifying, non-binary genders in the media. The work on display shows us that artists have regularly grappled with gender identity for over fifty years if not long before. Indeed Claude Cahun whose photographs does not appear in this show was making work in the 1920s. The video work of Victoria Sin greets the viewer as they enter the exhibition. This is an impressive start. The area is sectioned off by plastic sheeting, heavily draped to create deep folds. On it is an oversized projection of what looks like a heavily made up starlet/model reclining in lingerie. The figure is speaking, reciting something in a foreign language in a sexily suggestive manner. Or that is at least how I interpreted the scene. The folds of fabric scatter the image, break it up and overlap in a way that plays with the notion of fixed identity. It is a striking piece of work that holds the attention.

There is the work of Peter Hujar whose dark and foreboding photographs of the Hudson river hint at gender fluidity and the oppressive situation that non-conformist lives were/are compelled to live and the intolerance they suffer. Nevertheless the waves are changing, refusing to remain fixed countering entrenched gender narratives.

There is an impressive array of work spanning the period from Pierre Molinier's secret black and white images of himself in lingerie to another Hujar piece 'Candy Darling on her Deathbed' which shows the transgender Warhol muse reclining on her hospital bed with dignity while dying from cancer.

I was transfixed by Hunter Reynolds sculptural piece, a spinning memorial dress that names countless AIDS victims. A second dress now has over five thousand names printed onto the fabric which had been collated into a memorial book during the artist's wearing of the dress in a performance space.

This show is too large to cover in one post and requires at least two visits to take the wide ranging works. It is a show that challenges gender assumptions and the definition of gender. It is certainly worth a visit.

Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance - De La Warr Pavillion

This exhibition explores the history of resistance movements and alternative forms of living from the perspective of gender. The work of a number of artists is on show and the exhibition certainly requires a couple of visits to get the most from it. I was mostly drawn to the work of the following artists:

Judy Chicago - Smoke Goddess. 1972 - colour photographs of an installation performance featuring naked women, coloured smoke bombs and fire in the desert. Chicago states that 'Smoke provides a liberation from structure, while its colour was intended to feminise and soften the environment'. To me these images are images of resistance to patriarchal norms in the art movements of the time such as overly grand landscape art mainly constructed by men.

Judy Chicago - Smoke Goddess. 1972.

Osias Yanov - Aoot. 2018 - This structure represents a stylised ladder and relates to key symbols and moments of queer and trans resistance. As a prop maker I found this work to be informative. I like the symbolism of a ladder to indicate time and progress. I always enjoy looking at physical pieces and find myself drawn more and more away from photography and painting into sculptural forms. 

Osias Yanov - Aoot. 2018.

Micha Cardenas - Becoming a Dragon. 2009 - This piece consisted of print outs of a piece performed entirely online in the 3D world of Second Life. Described as a mixed reality performance the viewer was able to watch online as the artists inhabited the world of Second Life for 365 days. This piece relates to the requirement for trans people to experience 'real life' as their chosen gender before receiving gender confirmation surgery. This was an interesting piece to think about. The print outs convey a real sense of performance, of which it is argued in Queer theory what gender mostly consists of - being culturally constructed. 

   Micha Cardenas - Becoming a Dragon. 2009.

Vali Mahlouji - Archeology of the Final Decade 2014 -2018 - Is a platform for recovering cultural memory. In the work at the De La Warr gallery we see 'Recreating the Citadel'. This piece consists of documentary photographs and writings from an archive pieced together over eight years. It is the only surviving record of the destruction of a red light district in Tehran in 1972. The photographs show a once vibrant and squalid urban neighbourhood inhabited by marginalised groups that had its own set of rules and values. The work is very poignant and reminds me of the destruction of the cultural life of the LGBTQ bars and neighbourhoods by the Nazis. These stories are almost always forgotten and glossed over by traditional historians.

Vali Mahlouji - Recreating the Citadel. 2014 - 2018.

There were many more pieces of work on display, most of it fairly non traditional and radical in nature. Lots of political posters from feminist and LGBTQ groups adorned the walls and a library of reading matter and a seating area was provided too. This was a very well thought out exhibition that gave voice to a wide range of marginalised groups.

Brighton Photo Biennial 2018 - Tereza Cervenova: June

This artist has made autobiographical work on the Brexit referendum result. As a European artist living and working in the UK, Cervenova's image are ambiguous and intriguing. Cervenova has described herself as feeling like something was snatched away. The works are titled only by date and place. Apparently the dates signify specific moments relating to the Brexit referendum, an anti Brexit march, terror related attacks in Europe, and Trump's Muslim ban. The images were taken around Britain at the time of these events and are the artist's personal response to those events.

 

Tereza Cervenova - June

Tereza Cervenova - June

I was interested to see that the images were not framed but hung loose from a small baton attached to the top edge of each print. This meant that the images had begun to curl at the bottom. The Photoworks guide explained that the fragility of the subject matter and the physicality of the medium of the photographic print are both an integral part of the way the prints were hung.

As I am about to embark on planning my own exhibition and do not want to use frames I thought a lot about the words of the Photoworks guide. I am slightly worried about my prints hanging from the ceiling tracking system without frames; will they buckle, look unprofessional, and detract from my message? I was going to mount them on foam board to stop this occurring but should I worry at all? My subject matter also has a fragility that could be read in images hanging loose and buckling. I need to discuss this with my tutor I think.

Brighton Photo Biennial 2018 - Emeric Lhuisset: L'Autre Rive

The theme of the 2018 Biennial 'A New Europe' comes at a very pertinent time as our society in the UK is undergoing massive cultural and political upheaval. These changes are reflected in many of the projects on show, dealing with hot topic subjects such as the migrant crisis, homelessness, and national identity. This year the OCA students were guided through a number of exhibitions by staff from Photoworks who host the Biennial.

Emeric Lhuisset's L'Autre Rive project uses unfixed cyanotypes to detail the generations of migrants that have settled in Europe. The process allows the prints to darken over time as they change through a colour range from European Union flag blue to black, losing all photographic detail in the process. Lhuisset has managed to slow the darkening process so that the images fade over the life of the exhibition. We arrived on the last weekend and by this point most of the images were completely black although my iPhone exposure has compensated for this and brought out much more detail than can be seen by the eye.

In my mind the conceptual marrying of the unfixed cyanotype process with the subject matter fits perfectly. The lives of migrants to and currently working in the UK is under threat and their voice is fast disappearing from the political discourse. One of the most poignant images is of the crossing point closest to Europe where many migrants have lost their lives in the water.        

Emeric Lhuisset - L'Autre Rive

Handout for L'autre Rive