The Cowboy and the Pegasus, an exhibition for Queer Fest Midwest

I was recently invited to take part in an exhibition entitled "The Cowboy and the Pegasus" which was held on the 25th of August at the Pulaski Field House here in Chicago, Illinois. I installed two works from a project I began in January entitled, Deep Fry Your Soul. Deep Fry Your Soul is a piece consisting of two stuffed animals which have been dipped in layers of batter made of egg, flour and cornmeal and then fried in great vats of corn oil. The pieces were installed in two large glass vitrines which stood in the center of one of the rooms.



Deep Fry Your Soul, 2006 artwork by Samia Mirza on display at the Pulaski Field House, Chicago, Illinois


A variety of artists participated in the show including Sadie Benning, Bruce La Bruce, Kean O’Brian, Terence Koh, and many others.

Study for Purple Wolf, 2005 artwork by Terrence Koh on display at the Pulaski Field House, Chicago, Illinois.



Still from a video by artist, Bruce la Bruce, installed for the Cowboy and the Pegasus exhibition in Chicago, Illinois.


Some recent SAIC graduates were invited as well, including Matthew Hilshorst a 2006 MFA recipient who installed a self-portrait made of six layers of picnic tablecloths. Ryan Tacata, a 2007 BFA recipient displayed a garment entitled "Potato Anus" used for a performance last semester. Amber Hawk Swanson who received her MFA in 2006 from SAIC, exhibited her film entitled To Have, To Hold, To Violate: The Making of Amberdoll, a 17 min. film documenting the making of a life size doll replica of herself. Sean Fader, another recent graduate, installed his photo series entitled, I Want to Put You On.



Above are works by Ryan Tacata (left) and Sean Fader (right).


The show was curated by Justin Polera and Gonia Rejnowska of the curatorial team R&P (Rejnowska & Polera). A portion of the curatorial statement is attached below:


"Queer does not have gender, age, skin color or sex. As we see it, sex as a subject of many artworks is the product of a stuffy puritan approach to sexuality and physiology in the American culture in general. We take the word queer very liberally and envision an encompassing queer community, a rainbow coalition of diverse voices.


We believe gender and sexuality are temporal and shift throughout our lives. With the exhibition for Queer Fest Midwest we hope to challenge any easy interpretation of sexuality.


The artwork presented in the show “The Cowboy and The Pegasus" does not resolve any contradictions for us but rather pushes us to examine the contradictions and sort them out. "


For more information about The Cowboy and the Pegasus, an exhibition for Queer Fest Midwest or the curatorial team, R&P, please visit http://www.artinthepresent.blogspot.com/