The exhibition IDENTITIES, hosted at the Brooklyn Borough Hall, is a part of the celebration of the Brooklyn Gay Pride 2009, to be celebrated on June 11th.

Gender and sexuality are two of the main factors that define the Identity of an individual as well as a community or collective. This exhibition shows different points of view about the identity of the Gay Community today, offering a wide spectrum of aspects and thoughts launched by five very different artists. Included in the exhibition are artists Gregg Evans, Darren Jones, Jesus Lapuente, Emily North, and Peyrotau & Sediles.

The work in the show includes a broad range of styles and techniques (including painting, drawing, photography, video and installation) that directly relates to the borough of Brooklyn, NY.

Peyrotau & Sediles:

Is a tandem formed by Aránzazu Peyrotau (Barcelona, 1975) and Antonio Sediles (Zaragoza, 1975). After several exhibitions in different cities across Europe and United States, they have been developing his new body of work in Brooklyn. The exploration of the human element as well as the connection between the aesthetic and the generation of emotions is always latent in their work. This artistic team uses different languages like video, photography or installation in order to build up a personal discourse about the concept of identity.

They are presenting the video “Stigmas” and the photograph “Anita” from the series “Sin Pecado”.

“Stigmas” talks about the intangible power that society has to mark everyone that walks away from the parameters imposed by its sex, delimiting its freedom, pointing at the individual and judging its conduct. This situation can develop a permanent auto censure, which can result on the destruction of the self.

“Sin Pecado” contains a cryptic message that talks about sin as a voluntary transgression to the established. http://www.peyrotau-sediles.com/

Gregg Evans:

Gregg Evans graduated in 2005 from Purchase College and lives and works in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Evans work spans multiple mediums: photo, performance and video. However, it is photography that is his primary medium and first love. His recent book I Could Walk Away Now And You Wouldn’t Care. is available in New York at Opening Ceremony, Dashwood Books and Kris Graves Projects. Recent exhibitions include White Columns 40th Anniversary Benefit Auction at White Columns, New York, NY; DIY WPA at Envoy Enterprises, New York, NY; and inclusion in the 2008 GEISAI MIAMI Art Fair in Miami, Fl. http://www.greggevans.net/

Darren Jones:

Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, 1974, lives and works in Brooklyn. His work originates in his personal responses to the experience of the human condition. In particular those moments which involve some tension between the hopes and disappointments of the individual or society. His practice revolves around reactions to both every day occurrences on an intimate scale and grander themes of loss, the fragility of our existence and the ambitions and failures of humanity. The materials he uses are varied and are usually taken from, or will reference the locations where a particular event or reaction he had, took place.

The brevity of time, remembrance and the archiving of words or objects relating to places on a personal level are important elements of his practice. He is interested in archiving important memories both those affecting him personally and grander narratives which touch us all – life/death, survival, religion, the search for belonging etc, these are constant tropes. Nostalgia and his constant attempts to place himself within the context of contemporary society also play into his work.

His installation “Rise and Fall” is made for a debating room within Brooklyn Borough Hall which is dedicated to the practice of free speech, discussion and hopefully, resolution. These trademark rights of the western world are so much a part of the fabric of our lives, yet the liberties that come with them are not available to everyone.

It’s made with mylar balloons that have texts and words that reference the fragile balance of society and the importance of continuing the conversation for the good of all. The balloons will ultimately fail and descend as the gas escapes, acting as both a warning of the consequence of not engaging with each other and activating a romantic demise for the written sentiments on their once buoyant skins. http://www.darrenjonesart.com

Emily North:

Emily North was raised in New Jersey and moved to NYC in 1997 where she earned her BFA at Parsons and her BA at Eugene Lang College in 2001. In 2003, she was a founding member of riffRAG, a queer feminist art magazine and salon. She worked as a designer and community art educator in NYC before earning her MFA in studio art in 2009 at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. She now lives and works in Brooklyn.

Narratives inspired by childhood fantasy, family history, and fragmented memories emphasizing personal and political identity shape her videos, large-scale drawings, writing, and collaborative work. She draws from a broad range of material, including historical painting and needlework, family photographs, fantastical images from fairy tails, as well as contemporary visual culture such as comic books, graphic design, television, and film. Writing and narrative are central to her practice, and emerge from referencing critical moments of desire and loss. Her large-scale drawings are entered by viewers, they’re bodies becoming sites of fantastical possibility, exceeding the limits of the real world. http://www.em16.com/

Jesus Lapuente:

Born in Zaragoza (1953 ) started very young doing exhibitions showing similarities with movements like pop and surrealism. His control of drawing and the precision with the brush has always been one of his marks. He abandoned the fine arts to become a graphic designer working as art director for magazines such Elle or Dunia.

Years later, he took the brushes again and started developing an style that mixes both design and fine arts with his pop roots. Normally, using famous icons from the art history to present them in new situations filled with humor. Lately he has been working in Brooklyn, where he painted the portrait of Alan R. Thompson that is included in the exhibition among two drawings made just for this show. http://www.jesuslapuente.com