Rarely was an exhibit more perfectly timed than “Same Sex” at City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport, which opens Thursday, July 9, with a reception, street party and pride march. With everybody in the country talking about the Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage nationwide, City Lights shows images that examines the meaning of gender identity and fluidity.
“So much is determined by our gender, how we act, how we react, how we are perceived,” said curator Suzanne Kachmar. “There is so much about gender identity that needs to be talked about.”
New Haven art-making duo Gender Projected — Am Norgen and Reese Rampon — approaches the issue of how gender determines perception with a series of photos. Each set has five photos of the same model, but dressed, groomed and posed differently. In one photo, a model looks “female”; in an adjoining photo, the same model seems masculine; in another, it’s unclear. And does it matter?
Norgen said the name of their collaboration plays into the theme of this project. “We looked up the definitions for ‘projected’ and there are lots of them, projecting on a screen, on the world outside, something that’s just out and obvious and visual,” Norgen said. “Gender expression is really how you are in the eyes of the world and it always needs to be interpreted by the world, but what we want to say is that gender is not necessarily a binary. … Just because the world is a binary, that is not the way people live their lives.”
Nancy Moore’s hanging baby quilts, “Blanket Statement,” honor Moore’s child, who was born female and is now male. Pink and white squares are embroidered with statements that affirm Moore’s child’s right to self-identify as male: “I tried her on for size and she didn’t fit. It’s time to be me in the world.”
Miggs Burroughs’ lenticular photographs show pairs of hands caressing each other, of people of the same gender. Cassandra Mendoza’s four-photo grids show drag queens in transition from their natural faces to their made-up faces. Thomas Evans’ photo series confronts the issue of HIV: “Everybody has an HIV Status: We Are All HIV Equal.”
Joe Radoccia’s playful paintings take the familiar little cars from the Game of Life and inserts same-color pegs into the driver and passenger seats. Kachmar said on Radoccia’s work, “Everybody knows those cars. They are something mundane. It shows that what same-sex couples want are the mundane rights everyone else has, to love, to live, to have a family.”
Other artists in the show are Patte Corcoran, Sue Czark, Mina de Haas, David Enriquez, Daniel Eugene, Arthur Gerstein, Kenn Hopkins, Ricky Mestre, Cherish Minor, Stefan Novotny, Sassie Saltimbocca, Santiago Sanchez, Ellen Schinderman and Richard Taddei.
“SAME SEX: VISUAL EXPRESSIONS ON GENDER IDENTITY” will be at City Lights Gallery, Markle Court in Bridgeport, from July 9 to Aug. 12. On July 9, from 5:309 to 9 p.m., the gallery will have an opening reception, street party and pride march. citylightsgallery.org.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from a previous version to add the name of an artist.
