Untitled (testicles), 2003 Fuji-Flex prints, 31 x 24.5 cm / 12 1/8 x 9 3/4 in Dean Sameshima "The Promiscuous homosexual is a sexual revolutionary. Each moment of his outlaw existence he confronts repressive laws, repressive "morality". Parks, alleys, subway, tunnels, garages, streets -; these are the battlefields" (John Rechy, "The Sexual Outlaw", 1977). aspreyjacques presents the first UK solo show of American artist Dean Sameshima. Referring to "The Sexual Outlaw", the title of the famous book by John Rechy and his accounts about hunting for sex in Los Angeles for three consecutive days, Sameshima continues his exploration of gay culture and identity and its changing status in today's society. Sameshima will show two series of work at aspreyjacques. Firstly, "Deaf Dudes", a series comprising of a sequence of close-up photographs featuring a young male model, re-photographed from an eighties soft-core pornographic magazine entitled "In Touch for Men". In each image the model communicates directly with the viewer using sign language for different terms related to sex such as "Group Sex", "Blow Job" and "Ejaculation". The silence of the deaf guy - a silence doubled through re-photographing - and the use of sign language echoes Sameshima's interest in the notion of a specifically gay sexual language. Sameshima appropriates the images of the deaf model as a metaphor for the paradoxical way in which the widespread acceptance of homosexuality has led to a silencing of the once radical voice of the gay community. Also on view will be "Gauntlet", a series which complements "Deaf Dudes" in its exploration of the ways in which homosexuality and "queer culture" have emerged into mainstream consciousness and acceptance, thus rendering obsolete the need for an underground milieu. Sameshima objects to this sanitation of gay culture, mourning the loss of excitement experienced by acting against the law. Images of the gay leather club, Gauntlet II, aim to reinstate the notion of the sexual outlaw by capturing those spaces that were once the only territories in which gay men could cruise for sex. Born in Los Angeles (1971) where he currently lives, Dean Sameshima studied at the California Institute of the Arts (1997) and Art Center College of Design, Pasadena (2000). Sameshima's work has been exhibited internationally including shows at the Pasadena Museum of Art (2002), Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles (2002), Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany (2002), Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria (2002), Low, Los Angeles (2001) and the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, New York (2000). Exhibition: March 26 - May 15, 2004 Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 10 am - 6 pm aspreyjacques Gallery 4 Clifford Street GB-London W1X 1RB Telephone +44 020 7287 7675 Fax +44 020 7287 7674 Email info@aspreyjacques.com www.aspreyjacques.com |
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