‘Complex Complexions’ inside the SF LGBT Center is a jaw-dropping ode to both otherness and queerness, and it’ll be on display until the end of May.
Queerness and “otherness” — the umbrella that holds experiences, expressions, and identities that exist outside the collectively understood norm — are inextricably woven. To be queer is to sit outside of heteronormativity; to be anything else but a cis-white American is to exist in a country that, frankly, wasn’t organized around your ways of being.
But the embrace of otherness and queerness births a litany of beguiling, idiosyncratic things — art, intellectualism, empathy, strength, fortitude, compassion, the list goes on.
In San Francisco, the SF LGBT Center’s new public art exhibit, “Complex Complexions,” highlights the very sentiments previously laid out.
“The [SF LGTBT Center] gallery opening of our newest art exhibition, ‘Complex Complexions,’” reads an Instagram caption published by the nonprofit in light of the exhibit’s opening on February 12th. “[The exhibit] celebrates the Black, Afro-Latine, and LatinX LGBTQIA+ experiences of expression through various visual arts!”
Per the Center, the multi-medium exhibit was co-curated by artists Lauryn Marshall and Houyee Chow-Jiménez, with the idea of showcasing works from a collection of renowned artists that “depict dynamic scenes of being Black, Afro-Latine, and LatinX,” all of which tie into themes of “intersectionality and multidimensionality, exploring moments of intimacy, historical struggle, and a celebration of bodies.”
The exhibit spans the gamut of artistic styles and works — one display piece shows a disco ball placed over a basketball hoop, an undulating piece of carved wood acting as a backdrop; paintings that showcase autoeroticism in figures that challenge gender stereotypes; what can only be described as chromatic meltings of cityscapes and everyday scenes are brushed onto massive canvasses — and invite onlookers to question, rethink, and better understand the nuances of queer BIPOC experiences.
Like other exhibits hosted at the SF LGBT Center (1800 Market Street), “Complex Complexions” is free to the public during viewing hours (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.), and it will run until the end of May 2024, coinciding with the start of Pride month.
