Eastern Edge Gallery Hosting Summer Exhibition Featuring Jamie Ross and Jade Yumang
Jade Yumang Citations
Eastern Edge Gallery has been hosting works from dedicated and gifted artists from across the globe since 1984. The gallery strives to display contemporary pieces that address issues like feminism, multiculturalism, and homosexuality.
This summer, from June 13th to July 23rd, Eastern Edge Gallery is hosting a two-part exhibition featuring two exceptional artists from around the world. The two artists, Jade Yumang and Jamie Ross, have somewhat different but equally fascinating artistic focuses. Joe Fowler, Assistant Director at Eastern Edge Gallery, describes the artists’ concepts as “amazing projects exploring queer ancestry and erotic scandals in magazine culture.”
Jade Yumang, the artist behind the ‘Citations’ exhibit has always been captivated by the beauty in odd places. He was born in the Philippines but grew up in Dubai. He later immigrated to British Columbia and is currently based in Vancouver, BC as well as Brooklyn, NY.
We asked Jade to explain a bit about his upcoming exhibit at Eastern Edge Gallery and the inspiration behind his pieces.
“It is a collection of sculptures based on one gay erotic magazine that was part of a legal scandal in New Jersey in 1972 where police officers, without warrant, entered a bookstore owned by Edward Shapiro and Milton Nerenberg and seized various curiosa that were deemed obscene.
“There are, in total, 32 pages that are scanned, printed on one yard of fabric, and transformed into sculptures. Each sculpture represents a page. This series is a formal investigation on the economy of the queer body and how it is used as a tool for fear and anxiety, especially right after the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
“Visually, the magazine consists of beautiful shots of men in seemingly innocent poses against colourful backgrounds. I am curious as to what is considered obscene at the time and one of the arguments during the case was whether or not ‘obscene’ material has any social importance.”
Jade says that visitors can expect a lot of colour and texture in his exhibit.
“If you look hard enough, you will see bodies. It might look innocent at first glance, but these are sculptures as conduits for how non-conforming bodies adapt and resist a ‘heterocentric’ lens.”
We asked Jade what he hopes visitors of the exhibit will take away from their experience.
“Although these sculptures are based on gay male archetypes, I transform them into abstract shapes. These shapes can trigger many associations, but they are a visual exploration on the term “queer” in relation to form and abstraction, which has been
crucial in repositioning my practice into a terrain that is fraught and fluid rather than being bound to one body.
“For me, abstraction is a mode of constant change and I want visitors to experience these sculptures as paused moments of transformation. We always have to question and not just settle down on given expectations.”
Jade added that the magazine at the centre of his exhibit is called “My-O-My” which wouldn’t ruffle so much as a feather in our modern society; however, in 1972 it was deemed crude and indecent, resulting in the State refusing to return it, comparing it to returning an unauthorized weapon.
Not unlike Jade, Jamie Ross has made a splash in the artistic world. Jamie is a linguist, diviner, and visual artist born in Toronto but is currently living and working in Montreal.
Jamie’s award-winning lens-based and performance works have been screened across four continents.
He describes his exhibit as research into queer ancestry through sex.
“I’m installing my latest book, ‘Rousings: A Luminous Brotherhood.’ The book becomes a sculptural object in the gallery.
“A dozen artists from the Americas accepted my invitation to choose a deceased queer artist with whose work they identify and to whom they are also sexually attracted. Video homages to those ancestors as uploaded to pornographic video-sharing website XTube fill the gallery and the pages of the leather-bound, bronze-embossed artist’s book.”
In terms of inspiration, Jamie says he considers himself fortunate to have grown up with queer artistic mentors, all of which emphasized the importance of continuity as well as represented a sexual connection.
“This relationship is as old as the hills and is a very special one. They too, in turn, had been mentored by a previous generation of queers, taken in, and shown their lineage.
“Society is set up to encourage people to thrive as individuals. People are most often recognized for their independent genius, and this notion is especially strong in the arts. Personally, I find it much more challenging and profound to effectively commit the old truths to new language and to reject the rugged individualism that is so bound up with our concept of success.
“Building up our lineages and families together is more important to me. After I began this investigation, I started inviting other artists to identify their cultural ancestors and lineage heads.”
Jamie describes his work as stimulating with an interest in sexuality. It is a celebration of all the things that make us unique, while embracing and reflecting on longing and loss.
“Parts of the show will only be accessible to LGBT/queer visitors. I’m speaking directly to members of our community with this work.
“Artists from the USA, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Argentina, as well as Quebec and Canada responded to my invitations and I’m interested in queer artists investigating and enriching their local queer lineages and honouring the queer artist ancestors that don’t receive a lot of public attention and those whose work is not well known.
“I’m very excited to continue this conversation in Newfoundland!”
The two-part exhibition starts this Friday and is ongoing until July 22nd. Public viewings are taking place from noon to 5pm with free admission from Tuesdays to Saturdays. Check it out at Eastern Edge Gallery at 72 Harbour Drive!
