Contrapposto: group exhibition featuring local, national, and international artists

All 333 Crocheted "Distorts" on display for the first time

(Thanks to Andrew Niemann for the photos)

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Contrapposto: group exhibition featuring local, national, and international artists 

Exhibition 1-30 November 2019 

Reception Friday 1 November, 7PM

Artist Talk Wednesday 6 November, 7:30PM

w/ Carl Stewart UVic Fine Arts Building

Curator’s Tour Saturday 23 November, 3PM

w/ Kegan McFadden

Artist Talk Wednesday 27 November, 2:30PM

w/ Jade Yumang Camosun College Visual Arts Department

THE VICTORIA ARTS COUNCIL IS THRILLED TO OFFER YOU A VERY DIFFERENT GROUP OF SEVEN … 

Join us for the opening reception of contrapposto, a curated group show with work in beading, weaving, soft sculpture, quilting, and installation by Ryan Josey (Halifax), Lawrence Mandes (Rosthern), Aay Preston-Myint (San Fransisco), Carl Stewart (Ottawa), Dale Roberts (Victoria), Nico Williams (Montreal), and Jade Yumang (Chicago). 

contrapposto places art by seven queer male-identified artists working in textiles and other hand-made forms in conversation as a way of relating to (queer) histories through non-figuration. The title — a reference to classical sculpture popularized by perhaps the most famous queer artist, Michelangelo– is a red herring and is meant to act as a counter to the work on display, allowing for the artists to be seen as butting up against the hegemony of classification and supposed ‘masters.’ These works operate in opposition to oppressive forces and attempt to offer a new way of seeing histories as well as imagining futures. The work is held-up or in place by what came before, though is also unencumbered and in a sense allowed to be seen because of such tension it presents through the denial of the (male) figure. – Kegan McFadden, exhibition curator

The work on display references a wide variety of source material, taking inspiration from underground publishing (gay social magazines and comic books) to BDSM sex practices, from homophobic murder to nautical signage, and matrilineal histories to personal talismans. 

Image: Jade Yumang, Page 37 (“I Was A Homo for FBI, Beg’nr’s Guide to Cruising”), 2018 

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Exhibition hours: Tues-Sat|12pM to 5PM