The Big Gay Art Show will kick off Memphis’ gay pride festival on Sept. 26 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Crosstown Arts Gallery on Cleveland Avenue, next door to the Hi-Tone Café.
Matt Ivey is one of the artists featured in the show, as well as a student at the Memphis College of Art and friend of the show’s producers Thomas Green and Kevin Mitchell.
Ivey is heterosexual, and he found it hard to relate to the subject matter. He first thought of doing pieces related to marriage inequality, but came to the conclusion that the topic had been overplayed.
“I kind of struggled at first trying to figure out what I wanted to photograph,” Ivey said. “I remembered I’d worked with a guy I saw sitting at a gas station named Kimo a while back.”
Ivey was drawn to Kimo’s presence, and he decided to find out more about him.
“Come to find out, he was a male prostitute in [Memphis], but what was really interesting was when he started talking about his clientele,” Ivey said, “the majority of which was married men.”
Ivey’s piece is a photograph with a caption that reads, “Kimo doesn’t mind that his clientele is often straight, but Kimo and I wonder what their wives might think.” Ivey calls it a playful spin on a serious topic: “This hypocrisy we live in.”
Thomas Green, the show’s curator, says the Big Gay Art Show isn’t technically affiliated with “The Power of Pride” LGBT parade which starts on Sept. 27, but the show’s concept is designed to inspire the younger generation, welcome them into the community and let them know that there are people who have been where they are.
“I think that’s what pride has been doing for years,” Green said. “Initially it was LGBT folks coming out and saying ‘we’re here.’ Now, I think those folks are still attending these parades and marches to let the younger generation know they should be who they are—just be themselves.”
Green hopes that the show and the festival will help people realize that homosexuals aren’t “damaged goods,” and that each of them comes from a unique place in life. He described some of what will be on display at the show.
“Film, lots of photography, some painting and then some kind mixed media work,” Green said. “Unfortunately there weren’t any sculptures that were involved this year, but other than that, I think we’ve got a broad range of diverse media that artists are working in.”
Besides Ivey’s exhibit, a number of artists and performers will be on display at the show. Elaine Blanchard will perform a spoken-word piece about the coming-out process. Jill Wissmiller will display a unique art piece that has been likened to a slowly-moving painting. The same piece has been previously exhibited in Washington D.C.’s National Gallery.
Also available for viewing will be a film Green describes as “A humorous comedy about southern-white-trash-gay people.”
