We are pleased to announce the artists for our next exhibition Queer Perspectives which opens Friday 31st May.
elysium gallery are are the custodians of a building which has historic significance in terms of the LGBTQ+ nightlife scene in Swansea. Having been described as a ‘city mourning the loss of its gay culture’ the number of exclusive LGBTQ+ spaces in Swansea has fallen. The proposition of a Queer Space exhibition has come about in response to this but also aims to support queer visual artists in Wales and beyond.
The artists are Luciana Demichelis, Miles Rozel + Sara Hartel, Paul Sammut, Scarlett Wang, salal syndicate (Kieran Cudlip and Umulkhayr Mohamed.
The artists were selected from the result of a open call-out by Rhiannon Lowe, Dafydd Williams, Sahar Saki and Cerian Hedd (on your face collective).
‘As imagined, shortlisting such a large variety and number of queer artists has been challenging. Above all, quality of work, idea, and personal preference has taken precedence, although we had to consider how each individual artists work would fit into a cohesive exhibition and complement each other. Although the public will not perhaps see the full extent of work submitted, it has personally been quite comforting to see such a large community of queer artists who are working on issues and matters which are important to their being and/or increasing the visibility of the community.’ (Dafydd)
‘I was looking for the applications which had a deep understanding of the topic, very clear ideas of what they want to do but at the same time leave it open for experimenting with process. It was also very important to me to know that they have stories behind this ideas, especially personal stories, something that makes the project more unique and interesting’. (Sahar)
‘This was a tricky, interesting selection task. There was such a range of work, and with considerations about the resulting show as a whole, as well as which individual artists might benefit best from elysium’s offer while approaching the subject from both experienced and exciting aspect – I personally found it a difficult if rewarding process. Thanks ever so to all the artists who took the time to apply’. (Rhiannon)
‘It was a pleasure to be on the selection panel representing On Your Face. The applicants were all so varied and to such a high standard, which made the selection process extremely difficult. I am really excited about the artist we selected and can’t wait to see what they create!’ (Cerian)
Further information on the exhibiting artists and what they will be getting up to will be released very soon.
Queer Perspectives 31/05/24 – 06/07/24
Top Left to Bottom Right: Scarlett Wang, Paul Sammut, Luciana Demichelis, Sara Hartel and Miles Rozel, Kieran Cudlip and Umulkhayr Mohamed
