BEAR ICONS: Art + Artifacts of Queer Masculinity

Release Date: January 18, 2000 Bear Icons: Art + Artifacts of Queer Masculinity will run March 6-19, 2000, in The Gallery at Mount Ida College College (Carlson Student Center, 777 Dedham Street, Newton Centre, MA). The Opening Reception will be held Friday, March 10, 7-9 PM. On the following evening, Saturday, March 11, there will be an Evening of Live Performance by bear-identified artists: Alan Reade, Martin Swinger, and Ernie Lijoi, in the Auditorium adjacent to the gallery from 7-9PM. Tickets are $8 in advance (www.bearpress.com), $10 at the door. The exhibition is co-curated by Les Wright and TJ Norris, and co-sponsored by the Bear History Project, Mount Ida College, and BearPress. Admission is free. A Gallery/Artist Talk is scheduled for Tuesday March 7 from 2-3PM. Included in this informal presentation will be a slide show and a question/answer session with exhibiting artists. This event will also serve as a Press Preview of the show prior to its public opening reception. This second presentation of this traveling exhibition reveals a vast array of self-representation of gay male "bear sensibilities" as a postmodern/avant-garde installation of two- and three-dimensional objects, multi-media, and live performance artists. The show mixes folk, commercial, documentary, and fine art vocabularies to demonstrate the rapid expansion of a new gay male archetype. This installation expands and builds upon the artistic visions in myriad of regional and non-US cultural difference. Originally presented at New York's Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center (April-May 1999), documentation of the entire project/process will culminate in an exhibition catalogue. Works by over 25 internationally established and emerging artists will be showcased for this installation including work by: A. M. Angell (Nashville), Scott Auerbach (Atlanta), Agostino Bianchi (Italy), Markus Both (Germany), Richard Braswell (Baltimore), Neil Bruce (New York), Dwayne Bryk (Toronto), Tony C. Brown (Maine), Mark I. Chester (San Francisco), Ken DelPo (Boston), Richard Ferrugio (Denver), Tim Goecke (Baltimore), David Greig (Toronto), Ali Lopez (Los Angeles), Lynn Ludwig (San Francisco), Robert Maidel (Michigan), Rob Murphy (Australia), TJ Norris (Boston), Alan Nyitray & the Tucson GMHP (Tucson), Zio Polipo (Italy), John Rand (Los Angeles), Paul Roberts (New York), David Small (Boston), Christopher Taylor (Philadelphia), Mike Thorn (London), Anthony Weir (Northern Ireland), Les Wright (Boston), and Dmitrij Zinovjev (Latvia). Originally conceived as a visual supplement to Bear Book I & II (Haworth Press), the Bear Icons project kicked off with a lively panel presentation (December 1998) and the first Bear Icons exhibition, sponsored by the National Museum of Lesbian & Gay History and hosted by the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center (LGCSC), New York City. Both events were each the most successful of their type for the LGCSC. Media coverage has included the New York Blade, American Bear Magazine and Babilonia Magazine (Italy's leading Lesbian & Gay monthly). Directions to Mount Ida College: by public transportation, take the Green Line (D Train) to Newton Centre and transfer to the Mount Ida shuttle bus. Carlson Student Center is the first stop on-campus. For driving information, call general information (617) 928-4500 or visit <www.mountida.edu>. Original works of art, CDs and other merchandise by featured artists will be for sale both to promote bear artists and to help offset the cost of the installation. Items will be available at the gallery or on the BHP web site <www.bearhistory.com>. More Information http://www.bearlyvisible.com/bearicons/ http://www.bearhistory.com/bear-icons-01.html Contact Info Les Wright Email: codybear@bearhistory.com URL: www.bearhistory.com Copyright © 2000 Les Wright, Bear History Project	Detail from "notahairouttaplace" series by TJ Norris
	Untitled by Markus Both (Germany)
	"Slave Cub" by Christopher Taylor

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