A virtual gallery, panel discussion, and Q&A session.

Thursday, June 11 @ 2pm
Online exhibition opening. VIEW GALLERY BELOW.*

Friday, June 12 @ 2pm
Virtual panel discussion and Q&A*

*The online exhibition can be viewed below. The panel discussion and Q&A was recorded and will be shared on this site for those who could not join the virtual meeting.

Queer Spectra Arts Festival strongly opposes racism in our community and beyond. We strive to create spaces for marginalized and oppressed voices to share their ideas and creativity without fear of violence, abuse, and other forms of discrimination. QSAF urges our community of LGBTQ+ artists, our audiences, and our supporters to engage in anti-racism education and action. We support our brave community members who have chosen to protest the disproportionate and egregious murder of people of color, particularly BIPOC (black and indigenous people of color). We are grateful to bear witness to and participate in the current cultural conversation around systemic racism. We wish to help build a future where all members of our community can thrive. Black Lives Matter.

The risk of representation implies the need to “rethink the dominant tropes of unspeakability, invisibility, and inaudibility that have tended to characterize trauma theory as well as our current censorship-driven culture in general.”

Hillary Chute, Graphic Women

The Risk of Representation Gallery & Panel Discussion invites artists and audiences to engage in active discussion around questions of identity, effacement, and tropes of invisibility or inaudibility in queer art. The Risk of Representation Flash Project offers a sneak peak at select artwork by artists participating in this year’s Queer Spectra Arts Festival (QSAF), a multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ arts festival dedicated to challenging contemporary queer discourse while promoting conversations about queer identity and art. The project will continue conversations started in the 2019 Arts Festival relating to the need for art spaces to prioritize marginalized identities.

Opening on Thursday, June 11 at 2:00 pm, the Risk of Representation Gallery will showcase select works by LGBTQ+ artists. We invite you to explore the multidisciplinary gallery and the nature of risk taking in queer art. On Friday, June 12 at 2:00 pm, join the organizers and artists behind the Queer Spectra Arts Festival for a panel discussion on the Risk of Representation.

ARTISTS:

Teresa Fellion, Dat Nguyen, Brina Serassio, Dominica Greene, Billy Clouse, Patrick Croskrey, Nora Lang, Tori Meyer, Alex Barbier, Molly Barnewitz, Emma Sargent, Arin Lynn, Aileen Norris.

Molly Barnewitz, Fit for a Man, Tempera paint and Sharpie on board, 2019
Billy Clouse, Horizontal Arch, Photograph
Patrick Croskrey, Wives, Photograph, 2019
Dat Nguyen, flicker in: out, digital photograph file
Dat Nguyen, becoming_unbecoming, digital photograph file
Dat Nguyen, sit then stand then sit then stand and sit, digital photograph file
Dat Nguyen, half (naked), digital photograph file
Dat Nguyen, “look at me” (or “these shoes”), digital photograph file

The ideas and opinions expressed in the Salt Lake City Arts Council programs are those of the participating individuals and groups and do not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of the Salt Lake City Arts Council. Additional context and dialogue regarding these artworks and themes can be found in the panel discussion and Q&A on Friday, June 12th at 2:00 pm and in the statement and video created by Queer Spectra above.