Seeing Past Sexual Orientation

‘Queer South’ artists hope talent transcends stereotypes

“My deer,” a pencil portrait by an anonymous artist, will be displayed in “The Queer South.”
“My deer,” a pencil portrait by an anonymous artist, will be displayed in “The Queer South.”

There have been precious few platforms for LGBTQ artists to show their work together in the South, which still has a persistent reputation as an intolerant place for the gay community.

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Courtesy Photo

An ink drawing titled “Queen” is one of the M. Clay Wilson works shown at the Fayetteville Underground this month.

Cody Davis and Rain Rues, who each lived in Arkansas for some time and left to pursue careers in art, hope to help change that with "The Queer South" exhibit at the Fayetteville Underground. The exhibit opened yesterday during First Thursday on the downtown Fayetteville square.

FAQ

‘The Queer South’

WHEN: Through July

WHERE: Fayetteville Underground

COST: Free

INFO: facebook.com/pages/… or 806-640-4545

"I'm an artist, and I know a lot of queer artists [but] there's not that strong of a community in the South as in Chicago and New York," says Davis, who has lived in both cities and wanted to bring that congenial spirit back with him. "I'd like to see more of that here. We're organizing the smart, talented queer people."

The purpose of the show is partly to change the conversation surrounding the gay community, disputing the misconceptions that "queer" is a bad word or that being queer has negative connotations, that being gay is the only or most important part of someone's identity and that they all belong to a club or party culture.

An art exhibition provides the first step, introducing the community to their friends and neighbors who are gay.

"Visibility is important," Rues says. "Not many people think of queer artists as living in the South. The stereotypes about the South being ignorant and a white, straight space is a narrative we want to fight.

"We really just wanted to give [LGBT artists] a space to speak."

"The Queer South" is intended to give others more insight into the diversity of the LGBT community, find some common ground and ideally, offer a better understanding overall.

"The exhibit is focused on creativity, building community and strength with each other through friendships and relationships," Davis says.

Rues and Davis hope to do that by dedicating a venue to the thoughtful, creative and beautiful art the LGBT community has been creating for years. Roughly 50 works of art by 14 artists, two poets and a filmmaker will be on display for the month of July.

The event, which is supported by the Walton Family Foundation and the Northwest Arkansas Center for Equality, will conclude with a fundraiser at Back Space for Lucie's Place, an LGBTQ homeless shelter in Little Rock.

The most important distinction about the exhibit, Rues and Davis agree, is that it is not a showcase of art about being LGBT. It's about life and the beauty of the everyday, the ordinary.

"We don't want to make it about queer art," Rues says. "It's not a show that summarizes what queer art is or to make a genre of it. It's just a chance to say, 'Here's a selection from people in the South who happen to be queer and have a multitude of other experiences.'"

Some artworks take more traditional forms, such as paintings, sculptures, collages and drawings, while others bring a fresh perspective to ordinary objects. A life-sized dress made of thin paper and illuminated from the inside, mounted books that have been superimposed, painted or otherwise altered and art performance by song and spoken word are just a few.

Among the artists involved are many 20-somethings from the Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas area, but others are from Austin, Texas, Louisiana, Virginia and Washington state. They arrived with an assortment of artworks ranging from small photographs to a painting that spans five feet by six feet.

Photographers Brandy Roper and Anh Dao Kolbe chose selections that were inspired by the beauty we could easily find surrounding us, if only we pay attention.

"My inspiration for taking photos is based in seeing things that go unnoticed on a daily basis," says Kolbe, who specializes in black and white portraiture and will have three works on display. "It's showing the world a different point of view."

Roper, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, will have four of her digital photograph prints in the exhibit. The images capture ferns, crabs and fresh purple cabbage -- bits of life in Washington so common, they might easily be ignored.

Roper finds beauty in her new environment, whether that's a stroll through her town, a trip to a Seattle beach or a quick stop at the farmers market.

"I've been entranced with the beauty of produce here and wanted to capture it for those around me to appreciate," she says. Her personal favorite of the four is an image of tools. "The wall of tools [I came across] was a memorial to a local resident on Vashon Island, just south of Seattle. I thought it was thought provoking and touching."

Rains and Davis approached well known Eureka Springs artist Zeek Taylor, hoping to include him in the lineup of artists, and were met with an enthusiastic "yes."

The title of the show piqued his interest, but when he realized the depth and variety of art shown, Taylor thought it an honor to be included.

A total of four of his watercolor paintings will be on display. They include "Norberta Philbook," a popular image of a chimpanzee returning from the farmers market to share a basket of produce with her friends (ducks, chicks and a rabbit); a figure study; flamingos; and an iris, another of Taylor's signature images.

"This exhibition differs from other group shows I've been in because it features works by LGBT artists in a very public venue in Northwest Arkansas," he says. "I thought in light of advances in equal rights for LGBT people, the timing for the show was perfect."

Only last week, the Supreme Court ruled gay marriage legal nationwide. A few artists featured in "The Queer South" expressed hope that this will be the time the LGBT community gets back to being viewed as more than their sexual orientation and marital status.

"I hope viewers will like my work and just respect me as an artist," Taylor says. "All people, especially those in minority groups, want to be respected and appreciated. I couldn't ask for more than that."

No matter the age of the artist, their medium or topic, the hope of The Queer South exhibit is to empower.

"In the queer art community, there's this insecurity as a queer person that with most people you interact with -- once they know you're queer -- that they'll look down on you or have these ideas about you," Rues says. "I hope ['The Queer South'] shows them this is a safe space and how large of an LGBT community we have here."

NAN What's Up on 07/03/2015

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