CURRENT
CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU
September 16 - december 23, 2022
Michelle Beaulieu-Morgan, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Heather Flor Cron, Devon Kelley-Yurdin, Marcelo Martinez and Natasha Woods, Shoog McDaniel, and Caitlin Rose Sweet
Curated by Faythe Levine
With performances in partnership with the exhibition by Jan Bindas-Tenney, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney, and Katherine Ferrier and Meg Wolfe
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
There are multitudes of hidden and untold queer histories. As they are revealed, these stories shape and pave the way for queer visibility today. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is inspired and supported by the legacy of composer and artist Bob Crewe. His lifelong dedication to the arts and the ongoing possibilities about his inspiration for his song lyrics and personal life continue to be (re)considered. Thanks to his story, the seed of this exhibition was planted and the invited group of artists were asked to celebrate their interpretation and experience of queer existence and love.
As a kid, I was subconsciously (and later consciously) searching for relatable signs of gayness to latch on to. Books were my gateway: Anne of Green Gables, Sweet Valley High, and Nancy Drew are all examples of my gay roots. In the 2015 Aperture magazine essay Queer Photography? curator and writer Vince Aletti said "I wasn't consciously queering the space, but as my room filled up with images of men, I realized I was queering the pictures. It didn't matter who made them or with what intentions. Now that they were mine, they became expressions of my desire, my obsession, my imagination. They might not be gay, but they'd become queer. Context rules." My queer gaze was a gift of intuiton, a tool to survive, and I was grateful to have discovered language to talk about my experience.
Shared experience is a powerful ingredient of community building. Equally important is to never assume we all experience or feel things the same way. The range of artists and mediums included in the exhibition is intentional, highlighting our collective survival. The work is a visual fabric of our love, rage, resistance, healing, and grief— amplifling the multitudes of ways queerness can exist. Aletti said it so well, "...queer is in the eye of the beholder..."
Faythe Levine, curator
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE SERIES
We are thrilled to host a performance series in partnership with the exhibition featuring performances by Jan Bindas-Tenney, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney, and Katherine Ferrier and Meg Wolfe. Please note the dates of the performance series as they might be different than our regular gallery hours.
Katherine Ferrier and Meg Wolfe: PIECE/WORK
In the gallery Wednesday, 9/7, 12pm - 6pm, Thursday, 9/8, 12pm - 6pm, Friday, 9/9, 12pm - 3pm with special performance at 6:30pm
Jan Bindas-Tenney: Where the Wastewater Pools
Self-guided walk with audio, September - December in South Portland
Gabriel Chalfin-Piney: God Is Glove
October 28th, Location TBA
This exhibition is funded by the Crewe Foundation, The Onion Foundation, The Nichols Fund, and in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.