There’s a beautiful feature on my work alongside an interview in the new COMING HOME issue of GLAMCULT which is out now. You can grab a copy online here or your nearest good magazine retailer. Thanks so much Grace Powell and GLAMCULT!
Queer + Sexy @ MAISON 10, New York
QUEER + SEXY - CELEBRATING THE WORK OF LGBTQIA+ ARTISTS, DESIGNERS AND THEIR ALLIES
MAISON 10, the New York art gallery/concept store that specializes in work by iconic artists and contemporary designers, is marking its fifth anniversary with an all-new show ! Queer + Sexy.
Launched by husband-and-husband owners Tom Blackie and Henri Myers on July 10, 2016, MAISON 10 has become a key player in the NY arts and events scene. 10% of sales goes to nonprofits including SAGE NY, City Harvest, and Housing Works to name a few.
Exhibiting artists for the birthday show include:
TOM OF FINLAND · CARL HOPGOOD · EVA MEULLER · STUART SANDFORD · DANYELLE WEATHERS · CHRIS REDMOND FORD · PANSY ASS CERAMICS · CHRIS MARMIER · MISS MORGAN LANG · VICTOR-RAUL GARCIA · JULIA RIVERA · PAMELA CANZANO
Exhibition runs through September 17th.
Interview with Container Love
I had a little chat about art and love with the good folk at Container Love which you can read in full online here.
Del barrio, lógicas maricas - group exhibition on view now in Mexico City
Group exhibition on view now at Galería Union in Mexico City - Del barrio, lógicas maricas. Exhibition runs through August 29th.
SP:
En #galeriaunion_ estamos muy contentxs de presentar “Del barrio, lógicas maricas” una curaduría de @perrasdemuseo que recolecta trabajos que hablan a partir de los márgenes de los estándares de belleza, así como desde las vivencias cotidianas. Esto, desde un espacio con una perspectiva queer al interior de uno de los barrios más representativos de México, donde la violencia, el machismo y el abandono de la ciudad, se conducen bajo sus propias reglas y directrices.
Así que se propone explorar los amores prohibidos, perseguidos, satanizados y violentados por sus deseos, orientación sexual, o expresión de género, pero que a su vez, luchan por sobrevivir desde los lugares donde se viven. De manera que se presentan aquí como formas distintas de ver y asumir la sexualidad desde las vivencias del barrio. Lo que también abre la posibilidad de entender prácticas de reconocimientos desde otros contextos sociales y culturales.
EN::
In #galeriaunion_ we are very happy to present “Del barrio, logicas maricas”, a curator of @perrasdemuseo that collects works that speak from the margins of beauty standards, as well as from everyday experiences. This, from a space with a queer perspective within one of the most representative neighborhoods in Mexico, where violence, machismo and abandonment of the city are conducted under their own rules and guidelines.
So he proposes to explore the forbidden, persecuted, demonized and violated loves for their desires, sexual orientation, or gender expression, but which in turn, struggle to survive from the places where they live. So they are presented here as different ways of seeing and assuming sexuality from the experiences of the neighborhood. Which also opens the possibility of understanding recognition practices from other social and cultural contexts.
Allende 96 int.10 col. Centro (Lagunilla), CDMX, México - www.galeriaunion.art
PRIDE - an online show with Trigonal Gallery and Artsy
I’m taking part in PRIDE - an online show with Trigonal Gallery and Artsy which is running though July 4th with two of my photographic works, including a rare print from my Cumfaces series. More from the press release below. The exhibition is viewable in full here via Artsy.
Statement
Many in the LGBTQ+ community will tell you Pride is about transformation, embodying the fantasies that spring from one’s authentic self to take center stage. This unique exhibit sheds light on the most distinctive, multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ and allied artists making that possible.
Press Release
TRIGONAL GALLERY CELEBRATES PRIDE MONTH WITH TV’S DARRELL THORNE AND OTHER LGBTQ+ ARTISTS IN JUNE 2021 SHOW
“There’s nothing stopping you from being the unicorn of your dreams,” says artist, performer and sculptor Darrell Thorne. Best known for his work on RuPaul’s Drag Race and HBO’s High Maintenance. Thorne understands better than anyone how to embody the fantasies that spring from his authentic self, which many in the LGBTQ+ community will tell you is what Pride is all about. Beginning May 31st, 2021, Thorne will bring his unique sculptures and makeup/body paint creations to life as he headlines the Pride exhibit hosted by the innovative Trigonal Gallery.
Trigonal’s Pride show is loud and proud, featuring Thorne’s acclaimed headpieces, the likes of which have been seen not only on Yvie Oddly’s winning look during Season 11 of Drag Race, but also on Madonna in her “Living for Love” video and most recently on “Queen Diva” Big Freedia for the cover of Bust Magazine. Thorne’s creative approach to transformation encourages audiences to question their ideas of beauty, as well as their perspectives on gender fluidity and what signifies masculinity and femininity.
The Trigonal exhibit aims to shed light on the most distinctive LGBTQ+ and allied artists working in multidisciplinary mediums today. One such ally, The Sucklord, is a pop artist who made his name on reality TV series such as VH1’s Can’t Get a Date and Bravo’s Work of Art. Over the past two decades The Sucklord has come into his own by crafting unlicensed action figures and toys, particularly those based on Star Wars collectibles, through his company Suckadelic. Viewers of Trigonal’s Pride show can expect to see truly original Suckadelic action figures that have never before been released.
Alongside TV icons Thorne and Sucklord is British-born Stuart Sandford, whose pieces have been exhibited around the world for shows including Out-Spoken: 50 Years of Pride at Childs Gallery in Boston; multiple Queer Biennals in Los Angeles; and Boys! Boys! Boys! in London and Amsterdam, as well as collections such as the Sir Elton John Photography Collection.
Award-winning filmmaker Ryan Glista joins the lineup with his photography and collage art, reminiscent of Sally Mann’s Immediate Family series.
Photographer Adam Ciach shares his work from Eastern Europe’s burgeoning LGBTQ+ movement.
Pride will offer a plethora of digital and physical components. The online exhibit opens Monday, May 31st on Artsy.net. Saturday, June 5 and Sunday June 6th will see a physical opening at 37 Troutman Street in Brooklyn, hosted by Brooklyn Collage Collective founder Morgan Jesse Lappin. The opening runs from 11AM to 8PM EST. This live event will be ticketed and timed for attendees. Some artists will be present throughout the weekend. Due to Covid restrictions, tickets offered through Eventbrite will allow visitors to select the time they want to enter the building.
On Monday, June 7th the physical show will move to Strictly CBD at 394 Communipaw Ave in Jersey City New Jersey where it will open to the general public and remain throughout the month. Strictly CBD, founded by Jeffrey Devine, is one of New Jersey’s most pioneering CBD and hemp retail stores.
That evening, Trigonal Gallery will host an online Zoom open house with all of the artists at 8pm EST. Viewers can access this event via the Trigonal YouTube, Facebook and Twitch pages.
The Pride show runs May 31st through June 30th, 2021. Learn more at http://trigonalgallery.com or @TrigonalGallery on social media.
Cumfaces #6, 2007
BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! installation shots
A few BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! installation sots, on view now and until June 19th at FAHEY / KLEIN gallery in Los Angeles. More info and book an appointment to visit via their website.
BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! group exhibition at Fahey/Klein - Los Angeles
I am beyond thrilled to be showing the work below at Fahey / Klein Gallery in Los Angeles as part of BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! alongside an incredible group of emerging and established artists all focusing on the male form. The exhibition opens this Thursday May 27th in Los Angeles and runs though June 19th (by appointment only).
Jake (IV), 2016, colour photograph, dimensions variable
BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!
at Fahey / Klein Gallery
148 N. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90036, USA
May 27 - June 19, 2021
featuring the works of BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! artists
AdeY
Matthew Finley
Tim Hailand
Florian Hetz
Serge Le Hidalgo
Paul McDonald
Manuel Moncayo
Lucas Murnaghan
Sebastian Perinotti
Xavier Samré
Stuart Sandford
Niv Shank
Michael Søndergaard
Tyler Udall
alongside FAHEY / KLEIN luminaries
Ruven Afanador
Steven Arnold
Tom Bianchi
Greg Gorman
Paul Jasmin
Herbert List
Herb Ritts
See all artworks here
This group exhibition coincides with PRIDE Los Angeles, and the publication of the second issue of the new bi-annual magazineBOYS! BOYS! BOYS! Originally a time to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots, PRIDE month has since come to commemorate so much more. BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! celebrates and honors the queer community by highlighting the artists whose work has come to define Fine Art Photography.
The exhibition will be in memory of Lucas Murnaghan who tragically passed in March.
BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! is a project by The Little Black Gallery, curated by co-founder Ghislain Pascal, to promote queer and gay photography.
It now represents more than 67 photographers from 27 countries - including China, India, Iran, Poland, Russia and Turkey where gay rights are repressed and queer lives under constant threat.
“We are so proud to be bringing BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! to our friends in Los Angeles to celebrate Pride. It gives our photographers the opportunity to exhibit their work to a new audience alongside such amazing luminaries.” says Ghislain Pascal, co-founder of The Little Black Gallery. “We will continue to push the boundaries and build a great market for queer fine art photography.”
Please contact Fahey / Klein Gallery to make an appointment at www.faheykleingallery.com
Object to be Desired - on view now in Mexico City and running through June 4th
Claudia Doring Baez & Stuart Sandford: Object to be Desired May 15 - June 4th, 2021
ALMANAQUE fotográfica and The Empty Circle are pleased to present Object to be Desired, a duo exhibition of artists Claudia Doring Baez and Stuart Sandford. Through a new series of paintings by Doring Baez and an ongoing series of polaroid collages by Sandford, Object to be Desired, named after Man Ray’s readymade piece, Object to be Destroyed, explores the act of art making as a way to capture, explore and reassemble the artist’s object of desire. Although working in different mediums with classical nude forms, both artists reconstruct their subjects through the filter of their own evolving biography. This process imbues their art with a visceral intimacy only exceeded by possessing the object itself. Object to be Desired will be on view at ALMANAQUE fotográfica in Mexico City from May 15th to June 4th, 2021.
In a new series of expressive oil paintings, Claudia Doring Baez adorns bold color onto the black and white muses of Dada and Surrealist pioneer, Man Ray. Meticulously posed and oftentimes restrained, the women Man Ray photographed were transformed into decaying classical sculptures, such as the Venus De Milo, or the barren landscape of an early Surrealist painting. Doring Baez deconstructs these iconic images with the intent to understand the male need to objectify and subjugate women in art. The results are rich paintings of once passive subjects, now transformed into vibrant, active participants. Doring Baez steps into Man Ray’s shoes not only to assert her female perspective of the power dynamic, but also to imagine an alternate past.
“My body is a 60-year-old body. My Lee [Miller] and Meret [Oppenheimer] moment has passed, but I had it. I could’ve exposed myself that very same way, but I chose not to - I wasn’t going to be anyone’s object. Still the mystery of what it means to be a woman lingers. The objectifying of a woman’s body as I have done in these paintings is a search for who I was, what I was, what I will no longer be.”
Stuart Sandford’s Polaroid Collages are one step less removed from this same exploration of self. The source material is his own, but the time past has allowed Sandford to contextualize his experiences and reimagine them within the greater narrative of his artistic journey. Using polaroids of his dionysian friends and lovers, Sandford often assembles them together with images of the surrounding flora where these intimate, often erotic moments occured. The results of his craft are the delicate and beautiful objects you might find in a treasured journal or hidden under a bedroom floorboard. We return to these little sculptural gems over and over to soothe our longing for who we were, remembered through our past travels and relationships. Or perhaps, when Sandford marries two of his lovers together, it is a reimagining of who we were, what we wished to be and what we dreamed our lovers would be for us.
“The works exhibited bring together the two main facets of my practice, the photographic and the sculptural. The 35mm works on display, examples of my most recent 35mm work, are sensual, desirous of the forms captured within, be that of a beautiful young man on my bed or a beautiful statue of a young man (that of Antinous) in the Vatican in Rome. The Polaroid Collages are instant sculptures, reformed physical objects of desire/ connection, taking inspiration from both classical and contemporary art history and, in a world of ephemeral images scrolling across our (phone)screens, both series exist as beautiful, tangible, and delicate real world objects.”
About The Artists
Born in Mexico City and based in New York, Claudia Doring Baez’s paintings are animated by a reverence for art history and literature — she selects, re-creates, and adopts details from images to create a contemporary, expressionistic vocabulary. Solo Exhibitions and Fairs include: Denise Bibro Fine Art, Aqua Miami, Zona Maco, Scope Basel. Group Exhibitions at Zurcher Gallery, Lehman College, La MaMa Galleria, Ethan Cohen Gallery, and publications such as Art News Magazine. Doring Baez is represented by Denise Bibro Fine Art in NYC and Galeria Emma Molina in Mexico. Her work is in the DeWoody and Ringier collections.
Stuart Sandford was born in Sheffield, England but has lived and worked in the USA for the last 10 years, 5 of those in Los Angeles. He has exhibited his work widely in galleries and museums internationally, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and Centre de la Photographie, Genève. His work has been featured in numerous publications and it appears in many private collections around the world including the Sir Elton John Photography Collection. In November 2020, during the few weeks of the reopening after the historic lockdown, ALMANAQUE presented his first show in México: Lush.
For more information and to book an appointment visit the gallery website.
Claudia Doring Baez, Man Ray- Lee Miller 1930, Oil on canvas, 2021
Stuart Sandford, Polaroid Collage LVI, 2020
Two online exclusive exhibitions
I’m currently taking part in two online exclusive exhibitions focused on LGBTQ+ art and artists. The first of which closes ends this week.
WB Gallery presents Hot & Heavy, bringing together painting and pottery. I have two paintings in the exhibition available for purchase and the exhibition runs until Sunday May 16th.
These works are part of a fund raising exhibition organised by FMB Art Gallery out of Rome, Italy. Pride By Your Side 2021 celebrates queer life, art, and artists, and all proceeds from the exhibition go towards local LGBTQ+ charities. You can view the full exhibition and purchase online via this link until the end of August.
The best way to learn foreign language is in bed - new book with MenOnPaper Art (pre-order open now)
I’m delighted to announce a new book of my 35mm photographic works published by MenOnPaper Art that is now available for pre-order. The best way to learn a foreign language is in bed collects work from 2004 and right up to the present day, including many unpublished works and work from my ongoing Outside series, documenting urban, rural and sometimes lost public cruising spaces where men have sex with men.
The book is available in a standard edition and also a special edition (of 30) which comes with a signed 10 x 8 inch print. You can pre-order the book on the MenOnPaper Art via this link.
The best way to learn a foreign language is in bed ｜2021｜soft Cover｜108 Pages｜29.7×21 cm / 11.6 x 8.2 in
NFTs
I’ve been making digital editions of my artwork since 2016 with relatively little success or fanfare but now in the age of NFTs digital editions have been transformed. So far I’ve released a few pieces on various platforms but today I released the one work I’ve been waiting to release, a version of my Ouroboros.
Ouroboros, unique NFT edition, HD MP4 video
This work can be collected as a unique NFT edition via Foundation. Foundation uses an auction system that triggers once a bid is made so happy bidding! I was also interviewed last week about NFTs and my experience so far with them for Slate.com. You can see the full article here.
New sculpture work - The Prisoner, 2021
Working once again with actor and model Sean Ford, this new work takes its main influence from Michelangelo’s Dying Slave. Originally conceived for the tomb of Julius II, in 1513 Michelangelo began creating a series of prigioni (prisoners) that were eventually eliminated from the project. The original statue depicts a beautiful youth, apparently in a deep (perhaps eternal?) sleep. This contemporary version echoes the Dying Slave‘s pose but puts him in full knowledge and control of his actions, trapping the viewer with the power and beauty of his body. Using the same process as Sebastian and Adlocutio (Sean Ford), the first iteration of this work will be cast in Carrara marble dust and is now available to pre-order here.
The Prisoner, 2021, Carrara marble, 8.5 x 3 x 3.75 in / 21.6 x 7.6 x 9.5 cm, edition of 15 (+1AP)
Interview and feature in Italian online magazine TOH!
Interview and feature in a second Italian online magazine this month! Here’s the link for the full interview with TOH! Magazine. Grazie mille!
Interview and feature in Italian magazine VESTITO
Interview in the latest issue of Italian magazine VESTITO about new and recent work (and discussing my “selfie” works so for), available to download now via this link. Grazie mille 🙏🏼
Press for LUSH
LUSH, currently on view in Mexico City by appointment, has been received really well! Here are three articles (in Spanish but Google translate does a pretty good job with them) from Reforma (Mexico’s biggest newspaper and my second appearance in their pages this year!), Bad Hombre, and Time Out Mexico.
ING Discerning Eye exhibition online now
Earlier in the year I was selected by one of my patron’s to be a part of the annual ING Discerning Eye exhibition. Originally intended to take place in London, the COVID-19 pandemic of course changed all that and it’s now an online presentation with over 60 artists. I’m showing three new works (shown below), one painting), one sculptural piece, and a work from my Polaroid Collages series, and all the works are for sale. Here’s the link for viewing/purchasing: www.ingdeexhibition.org/mervyn-metcalf
Untitled (Sponsored Post I), 2020, oil on canvas, 20 x 17 in / 50 x 43 cm
Adlocutio (relic) no.1, 2020, 24k gold-plated bronze, 1.9 x 2.5 x 2.7 in / 4.8 x 6.3 x 6.8 cm, edition of 12 (+1AP)
Polaroid Collage XXXV, 2020, archival pigment print, 20 x 20 in / 50 x 50 cm, edition of 3 (+1AP)
LUSH - installation views
Installation views from LUSH.
Lush - trio exhibition currently on view in Mexico City
Lush opened Saturday 7th at ALMANAQUE fotográfica in Mexico City and I was lucky enough to be in attendance as I’m currently in Mexico City. Details below. The exhibition will run until the end of 2020.
Corcuera, Fernández, Sandford: Lush
Mariana Corcuera, México Federico Fernández, Argentina Stuart Sandford, United Kingdom
ALMANAQUE fotográfica
Colima 101 PB. Colonia Roma. Mexico City
Inauguration SAT. NOV. 7th (by appointment) with an artists reception SUN. NOV. 8TH (invitations forthcoming). Special private viewings during: “muestra.art” from NOV. 13 to 15, 2020
ALMANAQUE is honoured to present Corcuera, Fernández, Sandford: Lush, a trio exhibition with works by Mariana Corcuera (Mexico), Federico Fernández (Argentina) and Stuart Sandford (United Kingdom).
Is our perception already affected by the domain of the pictures in our screens? Corcuera, Fernández and Sandford allow photography’s textures and materiality to crave in our dopamine to stage viewership as a reflection of three images courses to be tasted with different senses.
The use of expanded photographic practices and supports such as textile, projections and 3d photo- based sculpture in addition to polaroids collages and digital prints, shows that the formal conclusion of a captured image can redeem the virtual in order to become something real.
Chiffon and polymer, paper, metallic and cotton fibre are the image supports to depict flesh, food, flowers or bodies to inspire voluptuous ideas in our minds, in a post-disciplinary age of art, when images can be consciously deploy free gestures of the photographic, the painterly, and the sculptural.
The collection of images presented in the trio show: Corcuera, Fernández, Sandford: Lush, Almanaque’s first presential show after the lockdown, are the ingredients of a synesthetic artistic practice to season a momentous present when we savour to feel alive.
We will have the pleasure of the presence of Stuart Sandford who is traveling from the UK for this special occasion.
Curated by Almanaque’s founder, Arturo Delgado, the exhibition Corcuera, Fernández, Sandford: Lush will be inaugurated on SATURDAY NOV. 7h. from 12 to 16h.* Followed by special hours during the “www.muestra.art”, an event consisting on a series of special viewings of more than 20 artist’s studios, independent spaces and galleries in Mexico City from November 13th to 15th of 2020.
* With sanitary protocol and mandatory mask, by appointment at your preferred time writing to: info@almanaquefotografica.com
HUNG - 10 years later
10 years ago in London I curated an exhibition of my queer art heroes. Titled HUNG (a double entendre given that it took place at an exhibition and events space called The Horse Hospital), it ran October 15th - October 30th 2010. I didn’t see much queer work being exhibited in London then (and really still don’t) as opposed to in NY where I’d spent a coupe of years living. I wanted to bring that energy and in-your-face sexuality to London and was lucky enough to already be in touch with the likes of Bruce LaBruce and Walter Pfeiffer and Slava Mogutin, amongst others, who agreed to be a part of it. I also showed a couple of works there, including a neon sign inspired by a classic gay art/porn movie Bijou and a series of appropriated selfies. Thanks to everyone who supported the show all those years ago and of course to all the artists who were a part of it.
Taste Sean Ford pendant pics
A few pics from folk who’ve already purchased the sterling silver Taste pendant in collaboration with Sean Ford and Larkin Studio, thank you to those who have. I was asked by a small number of those who’ve purchased to make a variant without the patina and it looks great all shiny and new too. You can grab one right here.
