“My mother wanted marble columns in our family home. My father cut some thick cardboard tubing to fit around the pre-existing rectangular archway into the rumpus room, plastered the outside, then had an expert marble painter come over to create a marble effect. This is Marble Realness, an attempt at passing a kind of class status associated with wealth and capital. It was my mother’s vision: a desire for the appearance of richness that the fantasy of capitalism dangles in front of us, yet executed in true camp. I was ashamed of this as a teenager, never inviting friends over because of my mother’s taste in décor. I admire it of her now. It serves me as a wholesome example of camp: unabashed, unaware of itself, and unnervingly humorous.
For this work, I am locating instances of shame as a method to identify unease, turning this discomfort with hope from straight to queer desire. With addressing points of shame, the option emerges to sympathize with uncomfortable feelings or react in a way that affirms this white patriarchy. I am committed to a practice that surrenders to full feeling, to move shame towards adoration, and to imagine the possibility of queerer futures.”
Athena Thebus, 2015
OPENING // 21 October, 6PM
ARTIST TALK // 5 November, 6PM
Gallery open: Monday to Friday 10am-4.30pm, Saturday 2pm-4.30pm
