Victoria Miro x OUT Collective

‘Paint is the perfect medium for archiving consciousness. It intensifies or hides aspects of memory in a way that mirrors the process of remembering.’ — Shadi Al-Atallah

Shadi Al-Atallah, selected by Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, creates large-scale figurative paintings: the dark and dynamic figures depicted in their mixed-media work are distorted self-portraits of the artist that capture the absurdity of conflicting emotional states. Their work explores the performativity of cathartic spiritual practice by drawing connections between the Queer ballroom scene and folkloric dance traditions from African diasporic communities in the Arabian Peninsula.

Shadi Al-Atallah was born in Saudi Arabia in 1994 and currently lives and works in London. They received their MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2021.

‘I often look to examples of extreme femininity and extreme masculinity when researching for my work. These portraits combine elements of both.’ — Ana Benaroya

Ana Benaroya, selected by Russell Tovey, lives and works in Jersey City, New Jersey. From a queer perspective, Benaroya’s work explores notions of power and desire by exaggerating and distorting the human body, playing with its form and its relationship to other bodies. She draws from the languages of comics, caricature, and pop culture and is influenced by images of bodybuilders, cartoons, gig-posters, and artists such as Tom of Finland, Robert Colescott, the Chicago Imagists as well as children’s artwork. Poetry and song lyrics often play a role in the titles of her works.

Ana Benaroya is an artist born in New York City, raised in the suburbs of New Jersey. She graduated with her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from the Yale School of Art in 2019. In 2018 she had a two person show at Postmasters Gallery in New York. She had two solo shows in 2020: one with Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles and one with Ross + Kramer in New York. In 2021 she had her European solo debut with Carl Kostyal in London.

‘I am particularly interested in depictions of male vulnerability, which I approach through a queer lens.’ — Kyle Coniglio

Selected by Russell Tovey, Kyle Coniglio’s practice revolves around creating fictional imagery based on his lived experience. He says, ‘Taking cues from the history of western painting  – specifically baroque, mannerist and rococo periods – I use colour and light to direct the emotional narrative of each piece. I am particularly interested in depictions of male vulnerability, which I approach through a queer lens.’

Kyle Coniglio has his MFA in painting from Yale University and a BFA from Montclair State University. He has been a fellow of the Queer Art Mentorship program in New York and an affiliated fellow at the American Academy in Rome. His work has been included in shows in New York, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Coniglio will present a solo show with Taymour Grahne Projects in London in 2022. He lives and works in Hoboken, New Jersey.

‘I use paint as I use my body, and as such the possibilities for manipulation and self-determination become inexhaustible.’ — Nash Glynn

Nash Glynn, selected by Doron Langberg, is a painter currently working in New York City. Speaking about their work, the artist says, ‘I use paint as I use my body, and as such the possibilities for spontaneity of form and change become inexhaustible. By crafting affective figures I seek to create empathy. The work serves as an affirmation, a reminder that representation has no outside, meaning we choose the reference, add and remove as we please, manipulate each stroke with unique gesture and tone. A process of painting, also known as self-determination.’

Nash Glynn (b.1992) currently works in New York City. In 2014 she received her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and in 2017 her MFA from Columbia University. She has had solo shows at Participant Inc. in 2019, OCD Chinatown in 2020, and an upcoming exhibition at Vielmetter Los Angeles in Fall 2021. Her work has been featured in publications such as Artforum, Candy Transversal Magazine, and New American Paintings. Glynn was the recipient of the Leslie-Lohman Museum Artist Fellowship in 2017.

‘Painting to me is a practice that allows me to remain curious, and the act of using collage is helpful as a reminder of the fragility of the human condition.’ — Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

Based in the UK, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa from the ages of nine to seventeen. Her paintings combine visual fragments from a myriad of sources, such as online and archival images, and personal photographs, which collapse past and present. Collage, in which the artist uses sources including family photographs, online archival images and vintage pornographic photographs, is a starting point. Hwami digitally edits and layers her chosen elements with further motifs to build compositions that, freeing the figure from the often prescribed meanings and assumptions of their original context, create new narratives.

Born in Gutu, Zimbabwe in 1993, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami currently lives and works in the UK. Work by the artist features in Mixing It Up: Painting Today, the Hayward Gallery’s major contemporary painting survey this autumn (9 September–12 December 2021). Hwami will also have work featured in Ubuntu: A Lucid Dream at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (26 November 2021–20 February 2022).

The artist’s first solo exhibition with Victoria Miro is on view in London until 6 November 2021.

‘These two portraits represent different sides of my practice – depicting the queer social world around me, and my family. When seen together they contextualise each other, expanding the idea of queer subject matter.’ — Doron Langberg

An increasingly prominent voice among a new generation of figurative painters, Doron Langberg has gained a reputation for works that hinge on a sense of closeness. Langberg’s paintings, luminous in colour and often large in scale, celebrate the physicality of touch – in subject matter and process. His intimate yet expansive take on relationships, sexuality, nature, family and the self proposes how painting can both portray and create queer subjectivity.

Born in 1985 in Yokneam Moshava, Israel, Doron Langberg currently lives and works in New York City. Works by the artist are currently on view in Any distance between us, which explores the power and significance of intimate relationships in works of contemporary art, at RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island (until 13 March 2022). Langberg’s work will feature in a major group exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston in 2022.

The artist’s first solo exhibition with Victoria Miro is on view in London until 6 November 2021.

‘Sunshine radiates the idea of living in a bubble of new found love and the joy that those giddy emotions bring.’ — Sola Olulode

Selected by Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Sola Olulode’s dreamy Queer visions explore embodiments of British Black Womxn and Non-Binary Folx. Working with various mediums of natural dyeing, batik, wax, ink, pastel, oil bar, and impasto she develops textural canvases that explore the fluidities of identities. Drawing inspiration from lived experience, friends, and cultural reference points to centre Black Queer Womxn, Olulode emphasises the integral need of representation and celebration of queer intimacies.

Sola Olulode (b.London, 1996) lives and Works in South London. She received a BA in Fine Art Painting from the University of Brighton in 2018. Since graduating she has had a number of solo shows including: von Goetz, Moving in the Bluish Light (2018); Lewisham Art House, Hold My Hand (2019); V.O Curations, Where the Ocean Meets the Beach (2020); and featured in the V&A’s In the Palm of Your Hands (2020).

‘As with most of my work, in this painting, the ground on which the narrative event takes place is never neutral.’ — Didier William

Writing about the work on view, Didier William, selected by Doron Langberg, states, ‘My husband and I moved into our current home during the month of November. The warm hues of fall had begun colouring our block in luscious reds, yellows, and oranges. There was a large bush in front of our house that was glowing with bright red leaves…  This is the red bush with blue tips that the two bodies are standing in front of… The two bodies are standing on top of a crowd of heads. Here the literal ground on which they stand is made of bodies as well. The bodies of ancestors who were considered property themselves and not able to own property, perhaps the bodies of curious neighbours eager to meet the black gay people who just moved into the predominantly white suburban neighbourhood, or perhaps even the bodies of the previous homeowners. As with most of my work, in this painting, the ground on which the narrative event takes place is never neutral.’

Didier William is originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He earned an BFA in painting from The Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University School of Art. His work has been exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art, The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, The Museum at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The Carnegie Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The Figge Museum Art Museum. He is represented by James Fuentes Gallery in New York and M+B Gallery in Los Angeles.

OUT Collective is an international network of galleries brought together to honour and support charitable LGBTQ+ organisations that work to achieve equality, visibility, wellbeing and justice every day of every year. Originally scheduled to coincide with Pride in London 2021, the OUT Collective came to life with the motto ‘Pride must be lived, not only celebrated’. Although the Pride in London events have been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we maintain that it is more urgent than ever to support organisations that offer much-needed services to LGBTQ+ communities, and to help these organisations sustain the vital work they do for the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

The OUT Collective will drive visibility, not only for the artists and the participating galleries, but will also raise global awareness of the essential work of our partner charities, which we are proud to announce as: akt, ELOP, Gendered Intelligence, Queercircle, and amfAR – The Foundation for AIDS Research.

Participating galleries will launch exhibitions on the Vortic platform – the leading augmented reality platform for the art world – proceeds of sales from which will be donated in support of one or more of the nominated partner charities.

Twenty-seven galleries are scheduled to launch exhibitions on the Vortic platform throughout the month of September. The OUT Collective will continue to grow as it welcomes more participants in the coming months, and the presentations will be live on Vortic until the end of the year. The inaugural group of galleries is based all over the globe, from London to Istanbul, New York to Bogotá. Several galleries have opted to support charitable organisations within their own regions that do important work within the local LGBTQ+ communities.

Queercircle is an LGBTQ+ led charity working at the intersection of arts, culture and social action founded in 2016 by Ashley Joiner. Since 2016, Queercircle has hosted exploratory workshops and events with artists, curators, writers and community organisers to develop a programme that is befitting to the needs and aspirations of the LGBTQ+ community.

With the support of Greater London Authority and Outset’s Studiomakers Initiative, Queercircle has secured an affordable five-year lease on a new site designed by award-winning David Kohn Architects.

Set in the pioneering Design District in North Greenwich, its gallery, library and project spaces will enable Queercircle to action its groundbreaking community focused programme of exhibition commissions, collaborative artists residencies and year-long learning and participation opportunities. Queercircle’s new home will provide a holistic environment which celebrates queer identity, champions arts and culture, and supports the wellbeing of our community.

Looking to the future, Queercircle seeks to develop an ecology of artists, curators, writers, thinkers, community organisers, grassroots organisations and charities who collectively work together to strengthen links between culture, health and wellbeing.