Queer, Irish, visual artist Brian Teeling will launch his stunning new work The Drift///Parallax this evening, Thursday, August 25 at the Dean Arts Studios.
The triptych of publications explores constructs of masculinity and how they intersect with sexualities, queer working-class identity, and remnants of memory enlarged into a cosmic scale. Using personal archives, the work draws on concepts of hauntology, psychogeography, depression, astronomy, and the presence of absence in portraiture.
As he explains, “Caleb Scharf’s The Copernicus Complex: Our Cosmic Significance in a Universe of Planets and Probabilities questions what life would be like if it were in orbit of a different star. Patterns in the night and colours of light would be different to the earth’s sky.
“Drawing from this, I consider sequences of colour in my work; how they tie together emotionally, while also feeling rooted in both speculative and real place.”
Situating the work around three stars Arcturus, Rigel, and Vega, Teeling attaches a different colour, emotion, and person to each of the works.
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“Assigned colours indicate specific arrangements, logics, and orbits found in romantic relationships. Arcturus is driven by lust, Rigel by dissolution, and Vega by doubt.”
Much of Teeling’s work focuses on queer sexuality and often draws on LGBTQ+ history for inspiration.
His three PROTEST! apparel series for GCN adopted imagery from the Irish Gay Rights Movement, iconic gay club Flikkers, and Gays Against Imperialism, as well as new graphic works using contemporary slogans to reflect LGBTQ+ identities.
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His 2021 photograph ‘Declan Flynn in Dublin’ paid tribute to a gay man who was “queer-bashed” in Fairview Park in 1982. Speaking on his motivation for the image, Teeling said “Declan Flynn in Dublin… is what I wanted to portray about Declan in the present day. His absence.”
Explaining the concept behind his new project Teeling said, “My intention for this work is to defy the limiting perspective of society on working-class people and to use my work to magnify personal realities.”
The Drift///Parallax launches tonight Thursday, August 25 at 6pm in the Dean Arts Studios, Chatham Row, Dublin.
© 2022 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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