The Identity Series, 2021-22, Jason W Gross/ JW Gross Studio
Charcoal, ink, chalk, wood stain, fabric tape, acrylic, acrylic gouache on canvas
Five, 2’x4’ canvases
These five multimedia works explore concepts of identity, pronouns and gender. Each plays with stereotypical representations of identity from masculinity, femininity, and androgyny while challenging and channeling the emotions the artist acknowledged, accepted and embraced while completing each work. After completing the final canvas, the artist wrote the words “Love” “Is” “Love” “Is” “Love” on the five panels respectively in florescent paint, invisible in light yet present in dark to tie the five works together.
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“He/Him/His” (2021) features stereotypical blue hues and crumpled tape evoke forms of protection and masculinity. Broad brush strokes also represent in abstraction other masculine physical traits such as horns.
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“She/Her/Hers” (2021) features stereotypical red hues and tape in stripes and an X over erogenous zones while repeating circles represent feminine curves. A poem of female vulnerability and strength written in chalk is lost to the layers of paint but remains in abstraction.
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“They/Them” (2022) features tape applied in symbols, including an X for an unknown/variable, a triangle representing lgbtq+ support and a square or box at the bottom representing the spaces where we as a society too often tries to place gender identity.
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“Q” (2022) representing questioning or queer features twisted tape evoking the helix-like twists of DNA. The Beatles song “Blackbird” was playing over and over in the artist’s mind while painting and inspired by that, the chorus is written (modified and in abstract) in reverse. Morse code is included on the tape as a hidden message to those struggling to be accepted. Finally the artist, channeling the rage that one might feel when not being accepted or understood stabbed the canvas with a serrated steak knife thirteen times… also acknowledging and raising awareness to the fact that LGBTQ teens are twice as likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers.
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“Free” (2022) features five vertical stripes of tape, painted black that conjures images of a jail or prison cell. At first the viewer might feel trapped behind the bars, as some in the LGBTQ+ community might feel (and a historical reference for those who were imprisoned for such acts in the past). The artist also challenges the viewer to see themselves on the outside of the bars, free from imprisonment, looking back in to where the hatred and angst is now trapped.
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Love is Love is Love
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