45
ÜBT
.......▼.......
The art of
being queer
Gallery owner
Reggie Petry makes
queer art exhibit
a dream come true
by
M a r c A c it o
ust about everyone involved seems to
agree that Pride Northwest’s first Queer
Art and Culture Exhibition, to be held
June 17 and 18 at Portland’s Gov. Tom
McCall Waterfront Park, is a great idea.
That consensus doesn’t mean, however,
that everyone can agree on what makes art
queer in the first place. But if anyone is up to
the daunting task of ensuring that the breadth
of the sexual minorities community is repre
sented, it is the show’s coordinator, gallery
owner and art dealer Reggie Petry.
“Culture doesn’t mean just one thing,” says
Petry7. And he should know; he was bom in
Germany to a German-French mother and an
African American-Cuban-Cherokee father.
“When I fill out forms," he says, “I just
check ‘other.’ ”
The 43-year-old one-man melting pot is
also the openly gay single father of three chil
dren, ages 15, 23 and 25, and will add grandfa
ther to his list of identities when his 23-year-
old daughter gives birth this summer. It’s easy
to understand why Petry can’t help but have a
multicultural view of society, queer or other
wise.
Petry7 makes it very clear that queer culture
doesn’t mean just sex: “If all the images in the
show were highly sexualized," h»' says, “it con
veys the message that we’re not a culture, but
only a behavior, and this show is an expression
that there is a queer culture.”
J
"If all the images in the show were
highly sexualized, it conveys the
message that we're not a culture,
but only a behavior, and this
show is an expression that there
is a queer culture
—Reggie Petry
In fact,” he adds,
“just because queer
artists are producing
the work doesn’t
necessarily mean
the work in this show
will be entirely queer in content."
Petry7 and Pride Northwest officials hope
that the open show, representing more than 25
local artists, will create a forum for spectators
to ponder and discuss the elusive meanings of
queer culture and art. The event takes on an
You bidder believe it
Same Ride, Different C ar by Melinda Thorsnes
“People ask me, ‘How would
you feel if there were a gallery
only dedicated to white artists?’ ”
he says. “But when you have a
segment of the population that
you feel has been underrepre
sented, that’s what you do. I
don’t think white artists have
been underrepresented.”
Applying the same reasoning
to the notion of queer art, one
might argue that, ffom da Vinci
on, the gay male artist has
achieved his share of recogni
tion. However, the totality of a
gay male artist’s experience,
including his sexual identity, has
only been openly expressed quite
recently. The controversy sur
rounding the explicitly homo
erotic work of Robert Map
plethorpe and Tim Miller, and
the virtual invisibility of lesbian,
bisexual and trans artists, sug
gests there is quite definitely a
need for the sexual minorities
community to stand behind its
artists.
Petry hopes his experience
coordinating the show will
enable him to represent more
Epistemological Interrupt by T; ad Williams
queer artists in the future, partic
ularly now that he has opened
Matrix Gallery, a contemporary fine art gallery
also on Northeast Alberta Street. His two gal
leries are nestled between the lesbian-owned
Chez What restaurant and the gay-owned
Onda Gallery.
As the vice president of the Alberta
Street Business Association, Petry urges the
queer community— both artists and patrons—
to visit the area and make themselves known.
.”
He points out that there are at least 10 queer-
owned businesses in the neighborhood.
“It’s easy to know when someone Asian or
added significance when one considers that
black comes in,” he says, “but if someone is
some of the artists have not publicly come out
willing to identify themselves, I’d love to know
as queer before.
who the queer people visiting are.”
Petry has long explored the issues of minori
We’ll make it easy— just tell him Just Out
ty cultures as owner of Our Dream, a gallery-
sent you.
dedicated to African American artists, located
on Alberta Street in Northeast Portland. His
■ Look for the QUEER A R T AND CULTURE
decision to focus on African American artists
EXHIBITION a t the Portland pride festival June 17
has garnered him criticism as well as praise.
and 18 at Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park
south of the Burnside Bridge. The festival opens
at noon Saturday and 9 a m. Sunday.
A
rt lovers have another
great opportunity this
month to appreciate and
acquire works of art. On
June 24, Cascade A ID S Pro
ject holds its 10th annual art
auction at the Pacific North
west College of Art. The
event will feature more than
150 works of art, with both
live and silent bidding.
This year’s auction promises
to be the biggest in the
astounding history of the
event, which has raised more
than $450,000 in support of
CAP. Procurement chair
woman Shari Critchley has
collected fine art from a wide
array of noted Northwest artists, including phenomenal glass
artist Dale Chihuly, and the acclaimed painters Gregory
Grenon, Mary Josephson, Lucinda Parker, Rene Rickabaugh
and Melinda Thorsnes.
Local jazz legend Tom Grant will per
form with his band, and after the auc
tion DJ Mr. Mu Mu will “throw down
the funky groove,” promises Jose Ayala,
special events coordinator for CAP.
Patrons who pony up $75 each will
be treated to a reception starting at
5:30 p.m. to meet participating artists.
General admission tickets are $35 for the
main event, which takes place from 7 to
11 p.m. at 1245 N.W. Johnson St. in
Portland.
A number of corporate sponsors
ensure that 100 percent o f the money
raised goes directly to CAP.
Enormous work goes into putting on
an event of this scale, and kudos go out
PHOTO BY TERESA RISHEL
to Tracy Savage, the committee chair
woman, and her squadron of helpers. For
more information or tickets, call (503) 223-5907.
■ Reported by ORIANA G reen