Dependence, 2019
Foreign Trade; A celebration of queer migration
Chained together or completely closed off, these urns playfully question our relationships with ourselves and each other.
‘Suicide is the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 years in England and Wales’ Mentalhealth.org.uk
My Neo Classical ceramic urns are a way of addressing the roots of Western masculinity. Victorian exports, including ceramics, disseminated a national identity that was supposed to be shared internationally by the subjects of the Empire. This nation building exercise, I believe, was invested in the production of specific kinds of gender, specifically, mobilising a militarised masculinity. My urns address this history, a legacy I was subject to growing up in Cape Town, South Africa. My porcelain chains further address this history through their haptic expression of masculinity’s strength and brittleness.
‘Foreign Trade showcases works by a range of LGBTQI artists, who were born overseas but have chosen the UK as a place to live and work. Publicity for the exhibition locates the genesis of queer migration in the Australian born visionary Leigh Bowery: an artist seemingly not only in a hurry to reinvent himself, but to reinvent reality itself. Something of the latter's spirit resonates within the transgressive, culture-clashing energy of the works on display. If anything, the ongoing uncertainty about Britain's future relationship with the European Union, provides an added political dimension.’
William Garvin, Garageland
‘There is support and solidarity amongst artists. Each of the artists featured in the exhibition have inspired their peers, or have created work their peers want to be shown. This reflects the strength of the queer immigrant community, their support for each other and the unifying vision they have. It is these relationships we want to celebrate, and how their charismatic cultural contribution has shaped the UK.’
DuoVision
‘DuoVision was founded by music curator Martin Green, whose club Smashing was the cultural hub of 90's London and James Lawler the visual arts curator of Homotopia Liverpool. After a visit to the V&A's extensive Post Modern exhibition in 2012, they were angered by the exclusion of Duggie Fields, who they felt was one of the genre's most significant painters. They immediately offered him a solo show in Liverpool, and DuoVision's curatorial partnership began.
The exhibition's success led to over 30 more championing other creative outsiders.
Five years after their inaugural exhibition, they felt a thrilling sense of achievement when Duggie Fields deservedly exhibited one of his extraordinary paintings at the V&A’
DuoVision
Commissioned by: DuoVision
Curators: Martin Green and James Lawler
Artists: Gozra Lozano, Thierry Alexandre, Michael Wilkinson, Tim Martin, Studio Prokopiou, Angelo Corsa, William Martin, Dee Stanford, Ram Shergill, Daen Huse, Jason Carr.
Venue: The Gallery Liverpool, UK
With special thanks to: Arts Council England