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Visions of Loveliness

28/01/2019 By ACOMSDave

Just short of two years I attended a number of events in Belfast Pride, the 2017 edition. There had been a raft of things to do, and that was by the end of the fourth day since its launch. Like I think most people in the community, I had picked and chosen what I wanted to see; I went along to The ‘Law’ event not realising I needed a ticket (my fault), then I took myself to watch Marquee which was on at the Queen’s Film Theatre (even though I knew it was also being shown on BBC4 on Monday night), and the day before I went along to see the ‘Visage’ exhibition of photographs of six of Belfast’s most formidable ‘Drag’ Queens (Visions of Loveliness), which was being held at the
Artcetera Studio in Rosemary Street, Belfast. This comprised of a series of portrait photographs with each of studies being depicted in both their male and drag identities, which resulted in 6 A1 sized hung photographs and then each photograph has been broken down into stip fitted onto a payramid. It was an interesting concept, which did force you to take your time and think about each photograph and character.

Within the Visions of Loveliness exhibition, each photograph was coloured in the 6 primary colours of the ‘rainbow flag’:-

  • Red – Matthew / Cherrie Ontop
  • Orange – Adam James Renshaw / Rusty Hinges
  • Yellow – Marcus Hunter-Neill / Portia Di’ Monte
  • Green – Michael Hillman / Misty Falls
  • Blue – Joshua Cargill / Blu Hydrangea
  • Violet – Robert McCready / Titti Von Tramp
Visions of Loveliness (1)

I really enjoyed this exhibition, but what would have possibly made it more interesting is possibly some audio interviews with each of the 6, or even if possible some video interview tapes – possibly generated pre-Pride from questions gathered within the community.

To this also a calendar maybe showing their forthcoming shows for the next 3-6 months would also have been a welcome addition.

This is an area which needs to be documented and explored more, to enable more understanding and acceptance and to move away from the judgemental.

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: art review, black and white, drag, homophobia, politics, Pride, Pride Festival, Visions

Family Matters

27/01/2019 By ACOMSDave

Frans Gertenback, is an artist living in Ballyclare. His exhibition ‘Family Matters’ consists of video installations, portraits and a large number of abstract works.

The underlying concept is one of the influence of family on your life. This is both the immediate family (mother, father, brother,sister grandparents) and the extended family which we all have.

The video installations are short looped items and are thought provoking in terms of place, time and styles. The portraits cover early life and later life, whilst the abstract paintings are just that abstract; it is up to each individual to interpret these as they will.

The exhibition runs from the 3rd to 31st January 2019 at the Artledera Studio, 43 Rosemary Street, Belfast.

I came away from the exhibition with little backward thought, unfortunately for me. I did not find the xhibition thought provoking as intended; but as with all exhibitions, this is my review and opinion, and I would suggest you go along, make time for the ‘Family Matters’ exhibition and enjoy the body of work.

For me one item of the exhibition stood out, and that was a portrait of a man shown below.

Further Reading:

  1. Artcetera Facebook
  2. Belfast Art Map

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: art review, artist, emotions, Family Matters, Frans Gertenback, Northern Ireland

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