Visible - Four Artists to Watch

25/03/16
Visible - Four Artists to Watch

Published in issue 20 (March/April 2016) of State magazine

GI’s Anatomy: Drawing Sex, Drawing Gender, Drawing Bodies

GI’s Anatomy: Drawing Sex, Drawing Gender, Drawing Bodies

Anna McNay and Jay Stewart

Anna McNay is a freelance art writer and editor, based in London. She is Arts Editor for DIVA magazine and Deputy Editor for State Media.  Anna has reviewed many LGBT exhibitions, including those in which this review’s case studies have participated and has authored the review elements in this piece.

Jay Stewart is co-founder of Gendered Intelligence. He holds a PhD in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths College, University of London.  Jay convened the GI Anatomy project and is author of the factual project information.

GI’s Anatomy: Introduction

In spring 2013, thirty transgender and intersex people participated in a series of practical life drawing workshops in London programmed by arts based organisation, Gendered Intelligence, in collaboration with life drawing tutors from London Drawing.[i] What made these art classes distinct was the fact that the models posing also identified as transgender and/or as having an intersex condition. The models had a range of body types, some of which were visibly identifiable as transgender or intersex, some not. The project aimed to engage the participants with complex ideas around sexed and gendered bodies that pertained to their own life experience. Throughout the project, the participants interrogated the ways in which scientific discourses and practices have come to shape our understanding of non-normatively sexed and gendered bodies.

To read this article in full, please see: http://tsq.dukejournals.org/content/2/2/330.abstract

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[i] See genderedintelligence.co.uk and http://www.londondrawing.com/. This project was funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of their arts award.

Chevalier d'Eon: Gender Transgressor

24/02/15

Chevalier d'Eon: Gender Transgressor

‘It must indeed be acknowledged that she is the most extraordinary person of the age ... we have seen no one who has united so many military, political, and literary talents.’ [The Annual Register]

Extraordinary as a soldier and diplomat, an author and spy, and as an expert sword fighter too, the Chevalier d’Eon – Charles Geneviève Louise Auguste André Timothée d’Eon de Beaumont (1728-1810) – was a noted figure in international politics and high society. But what made the Chevalier a truly colourful and celebrated character of 18th century Britain was the fact that no one was quite sure whether or not s/he was a man or a woman. Born in France, s/he came to England in 1762, ostensibly as Louis XV’s interim Ambassador, but in reality also spying for the French King. S/he lived in London until 1777 as a man, and from 1786 (aged 49) to 1810 as a woman. Rumours had in fact begun as early as 1771 and bets of more than £200,000 were regularly placed as to the Chevalier’s ‘true’ sex. Throughout, the Chevalier remained tight-lipped and would neither speak out on the matter, not allow a physician’s examination. Ultimately, s/he agreed to the French King’s demands (on whom s/he was dependent for an income) that s/he should dress ‘gender-appropriately’ – i.e. in female clothing. The Chevalier continued successfully to fence wearing a dress – adorned with the Croix de St Louis, a decoration awarded only to men, and won by d’Eon in his/her time as a Captain in the French Dragoons.

Upon his/her death, d’Eon was found to be physically typically male. S/he was buried in the churchyard of Old St Pancras Church, which adjoins the St Pancras Hospital grounds, where Camden & Islington LGBT History Month’s annual art exhibition, Loudest Whispers, is currently taking place. This year’s exhibition includes a specially commissioned work by trans* artist Simon Croft, responding to the life and legend of the Chevalier. Croft has carefully crafted a chess board – The D’Eon Gambit (named after the sacrifice of a piece or pieces in order to gain advantage in the game overall – particularly relevant to the Chevalier’s life, one might say) – where each playing piece represents a different aspect of the Chevalier’s life: D’Eon is both the King and Queen symbolising his/her dual gender presentation and close relationship with the French King; the Knight is represented by the Croix de St Louis; the Rook by a sword hilt; the Bishop by St Pelagius, symbolising D'Eon's strong religious beliefs and the many references in his/her autobiography to such gender transgressing religious figures as precedents for his/her own situation; and the Pawns are represented by the Burdett-Coutts memorial in St. Pancras Old Church churchyard, where the Chevalier’s name can be seen second from the top on one of the sides. Despite using 3D printing techniques, Croft’s playing pieces have remained, almost contradictorily, relatively 2D. They look both fragile and delicate hanging above a shattered board. Croft often works with this distinction between 2D and 3D, between concrete identity and variable viewpoints. A 3D object, squashed flat and restricted to one angle, may then, when hung, as these pieces are, cast literal shadows of doubt over their superficial appearance.

This is not the only extant artistic representation of the Chevalier, since there were many contemporaneous portraits and engravings of him/her fencing in full dress. One notable portrait by Thomas Stewart (1792), previously mistakenly held to be a portrait of an unknown woman, before being cleaned and revealing the unmistakable five o’clock shadow, is on display in the National Portrait Gallery. D’Eon also left behind an autobiography, which remained unpublished until 2001. Written in French, and very much for a contemporary public, d’Eon self-refers with a mixture of masculine and feminine terms. Much of the content can be independently verified, but it is clear that some stories were invented or altered to suit the self-presentation s/he sought at different times. In the book, D’Eon presents the life of a female-to-male transvestite (claiming to have been born a girl and raised a boy), whereas the truth seems instead to be that s/he was born and raised a boy, later choosing to live as a woman (thus, a male-to-female transgendered life). What is apparent is that d’Eon’s life blurred gender binaries and we can only guess at his/her true sense of gender identity and what that might have meant at the time.

Loudest Whispers 2015

The Art Exhibition of Camden & Islington LGBT History Month

2 February – 23 April 2015

St. Pancras Hospital Conference Centre

4 St. Pancras Way

London NW1 0PE

https://www.facebook.com/LoudestWhispers

Special Event

Chevalier d'Eon: Gender Transgressor

Friday 27 February

18:00-20:00

Talks by and discussion between installation artist and transman Simon Croft and LGBT sociologist Natacha Kennedy.

The evening will be hosted by art critic and writer Anna McNay and includes a new installation based on d'Eon by Simon Croft on display in the gallery.

Light refreshments provided

For further information: pbherbert@gmail.com

Images:

Simon Croft

The D’Eon Gambit

2014

The Assault, or Fencing Match, which took place at Carlton House on the 9th of April 1787, between Mademoiselle La Chevalière D'Eon de Beaumont and Monsieur de Saint George.

Engraving by Victor Marie Picot, based on the original painting by Charles Jean Robineau 

1789

Also published at: http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/arts-entertainment/chevalier-d'eon-gender-transgressor.aspx

Review of Loudest Whispers 2014 at the Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital

05/03/14

Loudest Whispers 2014

The Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital

10 February – 10 April 2014

Now in its fifth year, Loudest Whispers is an annual LGBT art exhibition, curated by Peter Herbert, hosted by the Conference Centre at St Pancras Hospital, and run in association with Camden LGBT Forum and LGBT History Month. Clearly it is a formula which works, and this year’s show is stronger than ever. With its usual mix of painting, drawing, collage, photography, sculpture, textiles and clay work, this year branches out to include crochet, hand stitched leaves and even a suit made out of hormone injection packaging (the latter two works by perennial exhibitor Simon Croft, who readily admits to taking from his engineering past a love for testing the limits of new materials).

To read the rest of this review, please go to: http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/arts-entertainment/review-loudest-whispers-2014.aspx

Preview of GFEST 2013: Art Riots

06/11/13

GFEST 2013: Art Riots

Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Tottenham

7 – 9 November 2013

After a year’s break, Britain’s biggest community-led, not-for-profit arts event, showcasing LGBT peoples’ artistic talents, GFEST – Gaywise FESTival is back!

Now in its sixth year, the leading platform for multi-media arts and entertainment, organised and hosted by North London based arts charity Wise Thoughts, has teamed up with UK Black Pride to once again offer its eclectic range of film screenings, music performances, creative workshops and a visual arts exhibition, along with this year’s additional attraction of a Bollywood party.

The theme for GFEST 2013, taking place at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham, a spectacular construction designed by David Adjaye, is ‘Art Riots – positive contributions by diverse artists in the community.’ This focus on ‘Pride in Diversity’ is an especially fitting tribute to the late MP Bernie Grant (1944-2000), in whose memory the arts centre was built, because he was a strong supporter of equality across the board, including for LGBT communities.

The festival opens on Thursday 7 November with ‘Riot of Colours’, a visual arts exhibition featuring graphic illustrations celebrating the achievements of the Stonewall riots in New York by Beldan Sezen; documentary portrait photography of LGBT families by Marta Kochanek; some dark images exploring sexual identity by Jason C Woodson; comics reinterpreting the signs of the zodiac by Sina Shamsavari aka Sina Sparrow; and a curious series of work exploring the nature of our expectations by Simon Croft. The exhibition runs for the duration of the festival.

On Friday 8 November, there will be an evening of film premieres. Following a number of shorts – Bumming Cigarettes, Miss Nizhoni, Hide and Seek and My Genderation (Alice) – viewers can enjoy the feature-length documentary, ‘The New Black’, by Fulbright Award winner Yoruba Richen, which tells the story of how the African-American community of Maryland is dealing with the issue of gay rights.

Saturday 9 November will bring performances by ‘homo hop’ rapper QBoy, hip-hop stars Naechane Valentino and EvOn Musicbully and performance poet Dean Atta.

Four creative workshops will run across the festival under the theme of ‘Learning from Riots.’ These include a social media workshop, a filmmaking workshop, a creative writing session and a drama workshop.

Finally, things will end with a bang on Saturday night, with the GFEST 2013 closing party ‘Bollywood Blast’. Offering a mix of Bollywood, Bhangra and House music, dancing will go until the early hours.

The central ethos of GFEST is ‘equality in all walks of life,’ and by teaming up with UK Black Pride, and hosting the events in a venue built in honour of such a worthy man, this year’s festival looks set be the most successful yet. As Kochanek reminds us: London needs this kind of event to bring together many LGBT artists in one place. Get your tickets now!

www.gaywisefestival.org.uk

http://gaywisefestival.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @GFEST 

Images:

GFEST 2013 logo

Simon Croft

Waxing

2013

Still from Bumming Cigarettes

film by Tiona McClodden aka Tiona M

Still from My Genderation (Alice)

film by Raphael Fox and Lewis Hancox

EvOn MusicBully 

Also published at: http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/arts-entertainment/gfest-teams-up-with-uk-black-pride-for-2013.aspx