Shocked Quartz, group exhibition at Ugly Duck
Curated by Alex Diamond-Rivlin and Deen Atger
Other exhibiting artists:
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley
Lou Lou Sainsbury
Tirdad Hashemi
Puer Deorum
Alex Diamond-Rivlin
Gray Wielebinski
Matthew Rimmer
Rudy Loewe
Deen Atger
Shadi Al-Atallah
Eve Stainton
Ebun A Sodipo
Romeo Roxman
Title: Gay Crab Originals (1-8) staged on Spider Shelf, 2022
Materials: Posca and metallic pen, spray paint, board, welded steel, hinges
Board dimensions: 21.0 x 29.7 cm
Stand dimensions: varied (approx 20 x 10 x 4cm)
Shelf dimensions: 260 x 6 x 126cm
Gay Crab Originals (1-8) staged on Spider Shelf, is a combination of new and existing work, consisting of a new series of eight A4, psychedelic painted boards resting on individually welded stands, staged on a thin protruding rickety welded steel shelf. Gay Crab Originals (1-8) staged on Spider Shelf exists under a new and ongoing larger body of work, Gay Crabs.
My interest in creatures with many legs begun during research into the predatory lesbian creature, arachnids/ phobic symbols, and the politics of coercion, for performance work Dykegeist (ICA, 2021, with Mica Levi). Moving beyond arachnids, my research moved to crustaceans, particularly looking into the erotic deception found in the fantasy of hardness, a creature with brittle armour, depicted here engaging in a sensual, almost choreographic, intimate encounter.
From shocked Quartz:
'How does our relationship to survival change overtime? Is crisis something we have become too attached to as an educational tool? How may shock, or shaking, give way to alternatives?
Shocked Quartz takes its name from the metamorphic features that develop on rocks during a highly pressured event such as a meteorite crash or natural disaster. Currently, the transgender movement has reached a specific moment in history, which some describe as the ‘transgender tipping point’. It is a moment of rupture, dissensus and instability, but also opportunity and potential – a shaking of structure and the production of new meanings. Shocked Quartz will examine themes of political and personal crisis, initiating dialogue around how queer, transgender people survive during tumultuous times.'