Colour Coded: queer abstraction meets fruity frosting

Ian Phillips is a visual artist and publisher whose small literary and art press, Pas de chance, has been active for over twenty-five years. In a chance pairing, the artists’ unique bodies of work come together not only through a common interest in illustration, but also through the transformative and queer—potential of colour, shape, and form.

Exhibit dates:

Friday, September 13, 2013 to Friday, November 1, 2013

Reception date & time:

Friday, September 13, 2013 7:30pm

Description:

NOTE: Exhibition closes November 1, 2013. Tours can be arranged for November 2 and 3 by contacting The ArQuives, no later than one week in advance.

What makes an object queer? Using this question as a guide, genderqueer artist Jamie Q explores how identity informs their abstract artwork. A series of paintings inspired by Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology proposes answers to this question, queering our reading of the artist’s playful, colour coated sculptures. Ian Phillips unearths a vibrant queer history by painting his hometown pink, the colour of the icing on Thunder Bay’s iconic pastry. In doing so, he discovers his own conflict in dealing with the community’s homophobia, past and present. Through lighthearted postcard-like images he responds to letters collected from Thunder Bay media. This work is a celebration of Thunder Bay and the struggle its lesbian, gay, and trans* communities face.

This exhibition is co–curated by Jamie Q and Ian Phillips.

Join the Facebook event page for the opening reception:
https://www.facebook.com/events/381940325265348/

Biographies:

Jamie Q works in a variety of media including painting, drawing, zine-making, printmaking, and sculpture.