Hollis Hunter - Touch Starved: A Masculine Mass Media Series
This November, we welcome local artist, Hollis Hunter, to The Carrot Gallery. This will be his first exhibition since graduating from the BFA program at the University of Alberta.
Artist Statement
Hollis Hunter considers figurative painting to be a strong medium for exploring the politics of trans and queer identity, bodies, and representation. In this series, each painting is based on a film still, magazine clipping, or printed photograph. Hunter references these mass media images of masculine-coded bodies to visually deconstruct social ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality. Abstract figurative painting challenges the perceived “authenticity” of photographs and addresses assumptions about what certain bodies or identities look like. Hunter adapts these mainstream images of “men” into his own narrative: feelings of vulnerability, and a search for intimacy as a man who is queer and transgender.
About the Artist
Hollis Hunter (he/him) is a recent graduate of the BFA program at the University of Alberta, and is working as a visual artist in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton). Hunter is passionate about activist art involving transgender rights and visibility. Within his practice, Hunter aims to address the challenges of LGBTQ+ representation through personal narratives. Transfeminist activism paired with visual arts is powerful for navigating our precarious socio-political climate.
For more of Hollis Hunter’s work visit Instagram @ poisondartist.