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.
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