Contemporary Queer Photography
Press release
Karina Cass Cedar Rapids, IA by Molly Landreth
EXHIBITION i Seattle, USA
“Author and Subject: Contemporary Queer Photography
Artists: Adrain Chesser, Kelli Connell, Katie Koti, Molly Landreth, Steven Miller, Rafael Soldi, Chad States, Lorenzo Triburgo, Amelia Tovey, Sophia Wallace
Exhibition Dates: April 6th-May 27th 2012
Artists’ Reception: April 12th, 6-8pm
After Party: April 12th, 8:30pm at The Wild Rose
Gallery Hours: Monday – Thursday 11 am – 10 pm, Friday – Sunday 12 pm – 8 pm
Location: Photo Center NW, 900 12th Avenue, Seattle, 98122, USA
Contact for more info: Erin Spencer at espencer@pcnw.org, phone: 206.720.7222, ext 10
EVENTS
Artists’ Reception:
April 12th, 6-8pm, performances by Tenderfoot and Waxie Moon. Also present, Queer Youth Space and #1 Must Have queer zine
After Party: April 12th, 8:30pm at The Wild Rose
Lectures:
Lecture: April 13th, 6:30 pm, Kelli Connell & Sophia Wallace
Lecture: May 4th, 6:30 pm, Steven Miller & Adrain Chesser
Lecture Tickets: $10, $8 Members
Workshop:
Identities: Queer Youth and The Community
Instructor: Molly Landreth
Sundays, April 15, 22 and 29 // 12-3 PM
FREE
Class: Gender and Sexuality in American Portraiture
Instructor: Molly Landreth
Wednesdays 6-9 April 4-June 6
$675
Bubblebath by Kelli Connell
The Photo Center NW is pleased to announce Author and Subject: Contemporary Queer Photography. This exhibition focuses on ten contemporary queer photographers who explore ideas of identity, gender, courage, relationships, sexuality and the human form. Scheduled to run concurrently with the Tacoma Art Museum’s HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, this exhibition sheds light on a younger generation of queer artists working in the photographic medium locally and around the country. In the spirit of celebration around queer art, the Photo Center is launching this exhibition with an exciting opening reception that will feature music, performance, youth, art and community! The opening reception willl include a fearless live performance by boylesque sensation Waxie Moon, challenging notions of gender, sexuality and performance art. With artists flying in from around the country, it will also present local folk band Tenderfoot, representatives from Queer Youth Space and A. Slaven and Adrien Leavitt, founders and DJ’s of LICK! and creators of the new queer zine, #1 Must Have, which will be available and accompanied by an installation of photos in the upstairs gallery.
Chicago artist Kelli Connell’s images appear to document a relationship between two women who seem to be twins– and incestuous twins at that. In fact, Connell has photographed the same model portraying both of the women and then digitally combined the two images so seamlessly that not a trace remains of their construction. Seattle-based Molly Landreth offers a more extensive approach to queer portraiture with her project, Embodiment: A Portrait of Queer Life in America, while Chad States taps into the mysticism and secrecy that still exists and surrounds queer culture. He documents hidden points of encounter in public spaces where homosexual men meet to engage in sexual interactions. Katie Koti challenges rigid dichotomies of identity and exposes the struggle an individual can go through inside of their own skin by engaging her subjects with an ambiguous landscape. Through their trickster alter egos, Beaster and Bear, Chesser and Miller create complex narratives that explore the politics of gay culture, spirituality, and man’s relationship to nature. Peruvian artist, Rafael Soldi, approaches homosexuality from a cultural perspective; his images represent his struggle to surface from darkness and uses his relationship with a pervious partner as an anchor for coming to terms with and defining his sexuality while transitioning from one country to another. Lorenzo Triburgo’s Transportraits are a series of portraits focused on transgendered men while Sophia Wallace explores the gendering of aesthetics and how the concept of beauty is tied to sexual objectification.”
Tracks by Katie Koti
Untitled (Chastity) by Sophia Wallace