OUT Collective

As I began these two portraits, I was looking at photographs of old time Hollywood actresses as well as photographs of male body builders. I often look to examples of extreme femininity and extreme masculinity when researching for my work. These portraits combine elements from both: the pose is inspired by the bodybuilders and the hairstyle and soft features from the actresses. In one portrait the light is coming from within the figure and in the other, the light comes from outside. I liked the idea that through opposite lighting, these portraits could have a conversation with each other. The light, like the gender expression of the figure, is playing off both ends of the spectrum.

In general, my practice revolves around creating fictional imagery based on my lived experience. Taking cues from the history of western painting -specifically baroque, mannerist and rococo periods- I use color and light to direct the emotional narrative of each piece. I am particularly interested in depictions of male vulnerability, which I approach through a queer lens. Boardwalk Buddy is inspired by an almost nostalgic longing to be with friends on Fire Island- a place where queer friendships reign supreme. Using hues of yellow and orange to conjure a sense of summer heat, the painting greets the viewer with a friendly companion bathed in the glow of afternoon sunlight. The figure gazes out at the viewer -making direct eye contact- to establish a sense of connection and empathy.

As I began these two portraits, I was looking at photographs of old time Hollywood actresses as well as photographs of male body builders. I often look to examples of extreme femininity and extreme masculinity when researching for my work. These portraits combine elements from both: the pose is inspired by the bodybuilders and the hairstyle and soft features from the actresses. In one portrait the light is coming from within the figure and in the other, the light comes from outside. I liked the idea that through opposite lighting, these portraits could have a conversation with each other. The light, like the gender expression of the figure, is playing off both ends of the spectrum.

An increasingly prominent voice among a new generation of figurative painters, Doron Langberg has gained a reputation for works that hinge on a sense of closeness. Langberg’s paintings, luminous in colour and often large in scale, celebrate the physicality of touch – in subject matter and process. His intimate yet expansive take on relationships, sexuality, nature, family and the self proposes how painting can both portray and create queer subjectivity. Portraiture is a cornerstone of Langberg’s art. Speaking about the works on view, the artist says, ‘These two portraits, one of my friend Willy and the other of my nephew Gal, represent different sides of my practice – depicting the queer social world around me, and my family. When the two are seen together they contextualise each other, expanding the idea of queer subject matter.’

Based in the UK, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa from the ages of nine to seventeen. Her paintings combine visual fragments from a myriad of sources, such as online and archival images, and personal photographs, which collapse past and present. Collage, in which the artist uses sources including family photographs, online archival images and vintage pornographic photographs, is a starting point. Hwami digitally edits and layers her chosen elements with further motifs to build compositions that, freeing the figure from the often prescribed meanings and assumptions of their original context, create new narratives. Disruptions and distortions to the physical form signal shifts in consciousness while allusions to classical or religious subjects from art history, and motifs such as plants figure as further symbolic gateways. Foregrounded throughout is the power of paint and the medium’s ability to capture the power and physicality of flesh as well as the acceleration and fragmentation, nuance and complexity of contemporary experience.

Based in the UK, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa from the ages of nine to seventeen. Her paintings combine visual fragments from a myriad of sources, such as online and archival images, and personal photographs, which collapse past and present. Collage, in which the artist uses sources including family photographs, online archival images and vintage pornographic photographs, is a starting point. Hwami digitally edits and layers her chosen elements with further motifs to build compositions that, freeing the figure from the often prescribed meanings and assumptions of their original context, create new narratives. Disruptions and distortions to the physical form signal shifts in consciousness while allusions to classical or religious subjects from art history, and motifs such as plants figure as further symbolic gateways. Foregrounded throughout is the power of paint and the medium’s ability to capture the power and physicality of flesh as well as the acceleration and fragmentation, nuance and complexity of contemporary experience.

These paintings come from a body of work that explores the innocence of romance. Sunshine radiates the idea of living in a bubble of new found love and the joy that those giddy emotions bring.

Night Walk depicts a figure journeying alone on a starry summer evening in a state of contemplation. Melancholically walking the beach at night with his tote bag carrying a teal canvas, the figure in this painting is a stand-in for myself. The flowers he carries with him echo the hues of the stars above, offering a note of optimism for this journeyman.

My husband and I moved into our current home during the month of November. The warm hues of fall had begun coloring our block in luscious reds, yellows, and oranges. There was a large bush in front of our house that was glowing with bright red leaves. At the time we were the only queer couple on the block. Our friends and family of course were eager to come see our new home and we’d playfully tell them to look for the house with the flaming red bush. This is the red bush with blue tips that the two bodies are standing in front. Above them are the eaves of our home. The eaves are the part of a roof that meets or overhangs the walls of usually residential buildings. For me, this situates the viewers perhaps in our yard or on our porch. The two bodies are standing on top of a crowd of heads. Here the literal ground on which they stand is made of bodies as well. The bodies of ancestors who were considered property themselves and not able to own property, perhaps the bodies of curious neighbors eager to meet the black gay people who just moved into the predominantly white suburban neighborhood, or perhaps even the bodies of the previous homeowners. As with most of my work, in this painting, the ground on which the narrative event takes place is never neutral.

Nash Glynn, selected by Doron Langberg, is a painter currently working in New York City. Speaking about their work, the artist says, ‘I use paint as I use my body, and as such the possibilities for spontaneity of form and change become inexhaustible. By crafting affective figures I seek to create empathy. The work serves as an affirmation, a reminder that representation has no outside, meaning we choose the reference, add and remove as we please, manipulate each stroke with unique gesture and tone. A process of painting, also known as self-determination.’

These paintings come from a body of work that explores the innocence of romance. Sunshine radiates the idea of living in a bubble of new found love and the joy that those giddy emotions bring.

Nash Glynn, selected by Doron Langberg, is a painter currently working in New York City. Speaking about their work, the artist says, ‘I use paint as I use my body, and as such the possibilities for spontaneity of form and change become inexhaustible. By crafting affective figures I seek to create empathy. The work serves as an affirmation, a reminder that representation has no outside, meaning we choose the reference, add and remove as we please, manipulate each stroke with unique gesture and tone. A process of painting, also known as self-determination.’

An increasingly prominent voice among a new generation of figurative painters, Doron Langberg has gained a reputation for works that hinge on a sense of closeness. Langberg’s paintings, luminous in colour and often large in scale, celebrate the physicality of touch – in subject matter and process. His intimate yet expansive take on relationships, sexuality, nature, family and the self proposes how painting can both portray and create queer subjectivity. Portraiture is a cornerstone of Langberg’s art. Speaking about the works on view, the artist says, ‘These two portraits, one of my friend Willy and the other of my nephew Gal, represent different sides of my practice – depicting the queer social world around me, and my family. When the two are seen together they contextualise each other, expanding the idea of queer subject matter.’

Lately, Shadi’s work has been exploring the idea of stagnation. They use swamps as a reference for this state of being. Swamps are the perfect parallel to feeling stagnant, like still water and wet soil. It’s an uncomfortable and undesired state. Like swamps, this undesired state can bring forth a new type of life and can give birth to a new way of being. Shadi’s recent paintings are a product of a stagnant state, an attempt to force life out of a swampy disposition.

Lately, Shadi’s work has been exploring the idea of stagnation. They use swamps as a reference for this state of being. Swamps are the perfect parallel to feeling stagnant, like still water and wet soil. It’s an uncomfortable and undesired state. Like swamps, this undesired state can bring forth a new type of life and can give birth to a new way of being. Shadi’s recent paintings are a product of a stagnant state, an attempt to force life out of a swampy disposition.