With the aim of “challenging the viewer to reconsider the legacy of representing those on the margins and the role of critique”, the Gallery 102 at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in Washington DC presents the group exhibition From the Margins. Until November 15, pieces by queer artists like Gerardo Vizmanos, Florian Hetz, Naima Green, Sarah Lusitano, Paul Mpagi Sepuya or Shen Wei among others reflect on queer identities and experiences, censorship, representation and vulnerability.
The starting point of the exhibition is the 30th anniversary of the cancellation of the exhibition The Perfect Moment: Photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. But most importantly, it uses Glenn Ligon’s piece Notes On the Margins of the Black Book as a guide to generating critique. As the organizers explain, “From the Margins speaks to the function of critique, the authority of public reception, and the spectacularization of an artist into a mythos.” Ligon, who did the artwork as an answer to the Mapplethorpe’s infamous The Black Book, where he portrayed nude different black male bodies, wanted to sort out the effect these images of black masculinity had on him as well as on others.
Now, the Gallery 102 presents the works of various queer artists also exploring notions such as representation, identity or queerness. For example, Naima Green’s Pur·suit series of card-sized portraits of womxn, trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people reflect on the experiences of present-day of queer people. On another hand, Gerardo Vizmanos’ and Florian Hetz’s photographs explore themes such as anonymity, the body, homoeroticism or censorship. There are as well artists like Stanley Stellar, who’s been portraying hundreds of male New Yorkers for forty years. Intimacy and portraiture are common themes as well in the works of Shen Wei or Paul Mpagi Sepuya, each exploring those concepts from their own unique lens.
Now, the Gallery 102 presents the works of various queer artists also exploring notions such as representation, identity or queerness. For example, Naima Green’s Pur·suit series of card-sized portraits of womxn, trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people reflect on the experiences of present-day of queer people. On another hand, Gerardo Vizmanos’ and Florian Hetz’s photographs explore themes such as anonymity, the body, homoeroticism or censorship. There are as well artists like Stanley Stellar, who’s been portraying hundreds of male New Yorkers for forty years. Intimacy and portraiture are common themes as well in the works of Shen Wei or Paul Mpagi Sepuya, each exploring those concepts from their own unique lens.
The exhibition From the Margins is on view until November 15 at Gallery 102, Smith Hall of Art, The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, 801 22nd St NW, Washington DC.
Benjamin Fredrickson Family, 2015. Polaroid 3.25x4.25”. Courtesy of the artist and Daniel Cooney Fine Art.
Florian Hetz. Körper Kreuzberg, 2019. Giclee print 16x24”. Courtesy of the artist.
Naima Green. Pur-suit, 2019. Deck of playing cards with 54 photographs in an embossed box 3.5x2.5”. Courtesy of the artist.
Naima Green. Pur-suit, 2019. Deck of playing cards with 54 photographs in an embossed box 3.5x2.5”. Courtesy of the artist.
Shen Wei. Closet, 2004. Archival pigment print 12x15”. Courtesy of the artist and Flowers Gallery.