"Decisions/Decisions" (2016) is a photograph of the artist as a baby. His eyes are replaced with thick, black arrows going in different directions, and across his chest is the word (or insult) FAG.
This seminal piece of art has a lineage, a history, as well as comes from an inheritance, which is that of the eighties and early nineties gay identity and AIDS activist art, such as David Wojarowicz's "Untitled (One Day this Boy ...)," 1990.
This work of art has also become more important with the rise of Trump and the reversing of LGBT rights, which were gained under the Obama Administration. Also, it connects to Brexit (the artist is Irish, but lives in England) and the rise of nationalism, which has also brought an increase of hate crimes. Finally, it, and this is shared with Wojnarowicz, it critiques the Church and its contempt for LGBT lives: lives that do not matter.
Indeed, as queer art historian Robert Summers has argued: "This work of art will stand as a sign of the times in which we live, and it shows that there is not only a homo-esthetic (as argued by Leo Bersani), but there is also a queer aesthetic."
'HOW DO I LOOK?' at DVAA Gallery, Philadelphia, USA - 2017.
'HE' at Last Projects Gallery, Los Angeles, USA - 2017 (and featured in the exhibition catalogue).
'HE' at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, USA - 2018.
'Decisions/Decisions' will also feature in a forthcoming queer art anthology by Robert Summers Ph.D alongside other leading artists and academics in the field of queer art.
Unlimited Edition. Printed on heavyweight, high matt finish photographic paper.