Photo: Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Darkroom Mirror (0X5A1531), 2017. Archival pigment print, 51 × 34 in (129.5 × 86.4 cm). Courtesy the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York
Beyond the binary lays a world of infinite possibility, a space of total freedom and fluidity. ‘Male’ and ‘female’ are the space where we begin, and when we liberate ourselves from the paradigm of ‘either/or’ a vast wealth of gender expression begins to reveal itself.
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Invariably, not everyone is comfortable within this extraordinary space. Many hold fast to simplistic, reductive thinking that diminishes the complexities and nuances of human experience and may resist enlightenment. Others understand the necessity of expansive and inclusive ideas, conversations and art – and it’s here that Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon takes off.
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Curated by Johanna Burton, Trigger is a major exhibition featuring the work of more than 40 artists from all walks of life, which will be on view at the New Museum, New York this month and catalogued in a book of the same name on November 21.
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By positioning gender at the intersection of race, class, sexuality and disability, Trigger exposes deep ambiguities, curious contradictions and fundamental questions at the heart of life on earth. The artists featured here offer ways to use gender to construct and dismantle culture, building new spaces and refurbishing the old. We speak with Burton about the importance of the show, and profile the work of six artists using gender as a weapon and a tool to embrace, reject and subvert the status quo.
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Artwork: Tschabalala Self, “Loner”, 2016. Fabric, Flashe, and acrylic on canvas, 84 × 80 in (213.3 × 203.2 cm). Courtesy the artist and Thierry Goldberg, New York
Artwork: Justin Vivian Bond, “My Barbie Coloring Book”, 2014. Watercolour on archival paper, 14 ½ × 11 ½ in (36.8 × 29.2 cm). Courtesy the artist