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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2009)
O REGO N S GAY/LESBIAN/BI/TRANS NEWSMAGAZINE JULY 17 2009 33 . M ART S ARTISTS » Q UEER SHOW, the BFA Gallery inside PNCA s main campus building. 1241 NW Johnson. The show runs seven days a week through August 2. Call 503-226-4391 for hours. Deconstructions a n d Definitions New PN C A Q u e e r Show Explores W h at's In a Norm ness exists. For Black, being queer-identified involves Ask ten people to define the word “queer” more than sexual orientation. It’s an umbrella and you’re likely to get ten different an term that encompasses subversive gender swers. From the innately benign dictionary identity, political awareness and a “shedding definition to the homophobic slur to the label of the binary,” she said. proudly reclaimed by many who self-identify Black’s piece, “Decisions,” is a dream-like outside the realm of sexual or gender norms, photograph of a naked woman engaged in queer is an evolving term - and one that’s several motions. Through double exposure, hard to pin down. the viewer sees simultaneously an image of When three friends and fellow students breasts, hanging untouched, and of a hand at Pacific Northwest College of Art decided holding the nipple to a dagger. to put on a queer arts show, a lot of questions Also discernable is a strap-on penis and came up. the phallus being held to the dagger. The “We struggled at first with how to clearly blurred motions create a fluid and anxious ef define ‘queer,’” said Wayne Bund, an MFA fect with different actions and physical gender student who has contributed to Just Out. indicators occupying the same space. Co-curators Sarai Black, Finn Grey Black said the piece was influenced by and Bund agreed that the term “queer” was “decisions trans people come across when broader and encompassed more elements they feel that their body doesn’t fit their gen of identity than merely sexual orientation. der, their internal gender.” Its theme, she said, Together they discussed ideas for the show, is not limited to the act of body modification appealed to the PNCA community for sub for transsexual individuals but rather invests missions from queer artists or those dealing an emotive element in larger issues of gender with queer themes and then reviewed the and the body. pieces. They chose eleven in total, with Black, “Decisions” is striking, and has nothing Grey and Bund each including one. to do with society’s understanding of gay But although they worked together to culture. For the curators, that is exactly the produce the show, among the curators no point - to express experiences of queerness singular definition or experience of queer that do not fall in the sometimes-conflated B y KIRA LESLEY realm of homosexuality. According to Bund, who identifies as a gay man, Queer Show is a response to the mainstreaming of gay culture. “You can turn on the TV and watch Will and Grace . . . I would say many people in the queer community are becoming complacent,” Bund said. “We wanted to maintain some of the radicalness associated with the queer movement and the early gay movement.” Two of the show’s more provocative and sexually explicit pieces are Finn Grey’s “Prom Photo with Hard On” and “Prom Photo with Butt Sex.” The two photos subvert common perceptions of gender and sexual roles, and the correlation between the two, even within queer relationships. “Prom Photo with Hard On” depicts a queer couple posing in front of a typical prom photo-op backdrop. The more male- identified of the two, wearing a suit and a “Prom Queen” sash, stands behind the more feminine character, holding her hips. Tie conventionally feminine of the two wears heels, a “Prom King” sash, and a skirt bulging from the genital area. The next photo portrays the prom queen bent over, pants down and the king inserting a dildo into the queen’s anus. The photos counter typical thinking about queer couples, in which masculine dress is associated with stereotypically masculine be havior, and domination. With the American institution of prom as setting, Grey wanted to “show variety within the queer community and show the variety in sex dynamics,” Grey said. In contrast to Grey’s piece, Bund’s “The Fall” explores themes of identity through quieter, more subtle images. Also a set of two photographs, the upper one captures a lush, mossy forest. Its green hues are broken only by the image of a naked man wearing wings, suspended with arms spread, between the earth and sky. The lower photo finds the man again in the forest. His feet are planted firmly on the ground and he is wearing a princess like dress. He holds the skirt out from his sides as if to curtsey, and looks upward. “I’ve always been attracted to myth and legend and sort of fantasy,” said Bund. Play ing with notions of nakedness and gender signaling clothing while invoking myth, religion and fantasy, “The Fall” touches upon many aspects of human identity. O f the title, Bund said, “[I wanted to] reference the possibilities but without giving away all the answers.” That might just be the best definition of “queer” yet. See Wayne Bund's uThe Fall" on page 21. á¡swíi8®&?. HOLLYWOOD LOUNGE P o r t l a n d ' s p r e m i e r C ay Downtown - 412 SW 4t h Ave by Stark m e n ' s C lub F r i e n d s D r in k s D j ' s F u n St N O C O VER! 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