We are excited to be featuring Ivor Lane's wonderful music in The Art of Being Queer Exhibition!
Artist Statement:
I'm Ivor Lane, a non-binary, fem singer songwriter from Chicago IL. I just released my first single and video, which can be found on my website, ivorlane.com.
It's pretty surreal to be stepping into this role as a singer, considering I was always ridiculed for my soft voice. As a kid I tried my hardest to suppress the queerness inside of me, to kill my femininity. But as I grew and discovered more of myself and the world, I realized my only path to survival was through self acceptance. My discovery of my queerness coincided with the discovery of my musical voice. In my songs there is a lot of pain and solitude. But there is optimism as well, and strength. I hope y'all will be some of the first to showcase my work, and that we can develop a partnership! This is the very beginning of my story, I have 10s of songs written, waiting to be made into future albums, and I have allot of knowledge and queerness to share with the world!
The Art of Being Queer Exhibition explores and celebrates queer artists and their work from around the globe. It provides an identity experience through which we assimilate the ongoing fight for queer representation not only in the art industry, but in mainstream media as a whole. This exhibition is curated by The Art of Being Queer, a growing organisation and podcast that highlights the censorship queer artists of all mediums face every day, and provides a platform on which these artists can showcase their work that is otherwise underrepresented, rejected, or hidden altogether.
The exhibition features multiple artists, all of whom have had different societal experiences and individual sets of struggles linked to their identity. Through art of many types, these brave artists demonstrate that identity, in its purest form, is not defined by biology or culture, but by what is felt within.
The exhibition takes place at Pineapple Black Gallery on the 27th, 28th and 29th of September during Middlesbrough Art Weekender. We would love for you to join us for our launch event on Friday 27th September, 5pm-8pm.
Middlesbrough Pop Up Pride is also taking place the same weekend. Throughout the afternoon, the Outdoor stage will be packed full of live performances. The line-up will be announced on the event page linked above! Alongside the performances, expect street theatre, arts and crafts, workshops and all the stalls and bars of Orange Pip Market. There will also be excellent nightlife events by Sapphires and Tiny through to the early hours.
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