We Are Family is a new exhibition to coincide with LGBTQ+ History Month, which aims to depict imagery of queer relationships and interactions in different parts of the queer world centring family and kinship. With support of the Ledward Centre, Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS) is collaborating with art curator, writer and art consultant Pacheanne Anderson, to exhibit digital artists.
The representations can include images from nightlife, domestic life and celebratory but political instances such as Pride. With a focus on kinship, collective care and community support, the works selected aim to show the audience brief snippets of what family looks like in our everyday lives.
Pacheanne Anderson, curator, said: “I am really excited to be working with such young, energetic and talented people on this exhibition at SEAS. I think they all have very different and interesting perspectives of life as a queer person of colour living in the UK and beyond.
“I think it’s important to show artists who aren’t afraid to create work which engages with alternative views of real life through the creation of their own queer utopias and creative explorations of the world they would like to see, rather than what it looks like already.”
Including established and emerging artists such as Ashton Attz, Bernice Mulenga and Terrell Villiers, this exhibition uses photography and illustration to provide fresh, young and bold interpretations of what it means to choose and belong to a community that is actively supportive.
There will also be showing digital illustration as well as documented photographs to fill gaps of knowledge about LGBTQ+ history as well as providing a diverse representation of queer communities of colour by artists living and working in current times.
We Are Family will be available to view in the Ledward Centre, Brighton BN1 1UU from February 18. The exhibition is supported by Arts Council England, the Rainbow Trust, BMECP, Brighton & Hove Communities Fund and the Irene Mensah Bursary. It will also be available to view online.
Join SEAS for a launch event on February 18 from 5-8pm in the Ledward Centre. This will be a fantastic opportunity to see the art and meet the artists and curator in real life and engage in discussions around the work.
Tickets are completely free although limited so book to guarantee your space.
Image credit: Terrell Villiers