PITTSBURGH, PA.- H/er first solo museum exhibition, S/HE IS HER/E, showcases the breadth of BREYER P-ORRIDGE’s art practice through over 100 works, dating from the mid 1970s to the present. With an art practice dating back to the late 1960s, BREYER P-ORRIDGE has reinvented and reintroduced h/erself as groundbreaking performance artist, pioneer of industrial music, "wrecker of civilization," essayist, and, most recently, as pandrogyne. H/er singular and, at times, provocative creative practice has exerted a profound influence on visual artists and musicians alike.
A central focus for the exhibition is the Pandrogyne project – a complex and highly ambitious series of collaborative artworks by Genesis P-Orridge and h/er wife Lady Jaye Breyer (1969-2007). Frustrated by what they considered to be socially imposed limits on personal identity and on the language of true love, the artists sought to merge their two identities, using plastic surgery, hormone therapy, cross-dressing, and altered behavior to create the pandrogynous being, "BREYER PORRIDGE.” An act of love, the work explores how fully two people can integrate their lives, bodies, and consciousnesses. S/HE IS HER/E examines and celebrates BREYER P-ORRIDGE’s open-ended conception of identity. As the artist has stated, “There are more than one of you. Maybe hundreds to choose from.”
Caldwell Linker has worked in photography for over 15 years and has produced a large body of work depicting LGBQT individuals and events. All Through the Night presents a selection of images executed since the artist’s relocation to Pittsburgh in 2007 and reveals an intimate and celebratory portrait of Pittsburgh’s vibrant LGBQT communities. From extravagant performances of local drag queens, house parties and simple afternoons on the porch, Linker’s images portray a broad spectrum of people, locations and emotions. Primarily composed with available light “as found” rather than staged, the photographs convey a sense of the community’s rich social texture and intimate personal engagement.
Nick Bubash has worked across a wide range of media and embraced diverse stylistic approaches – from naturalistic figure studies through to fantastical imagery influenced by his work as a tattooist. Always present, however, is Bubash’s sardonic sense of humor. The Patron Saint of White Guys That Went Tribal and Other Works focuses a new group of found object sculptures that reveal a playful, irreverent approach to the figure and its possibility for transformation. Bubash has exhibited extensively across the US since 1989. He is also a nationally recognized tattooist and the owner of Route 60 Tattoo in McKees Rocks.
Nicholas Chambers, the Milton Fine curator of art at The Warhol states, “It’s a privilege for The Warhol to be presenting the first solo museum exhibitions by three contemporary artists this summer. They are shows that, together, emphasize the museum’s commitment to experimental art practices, both here in Pittsburgh and elsewhere in the world.”
Eric Shiner, The Warhol’s director states, “In true Warhol Museum fashion, we are pulling out all the stops this summer, examining in detail contemporary notions of sex, gender and the human body some 20 years after these topics first became relevant in academia. Now fully entrenched in the greater culture, we take these issues as our central focus and show how artists are dealing with them today. Visitors might be surprised by what they see, but upon full understanding, a story of love, empathy and community will emerge showing that the anomalies of society are growing ever-closer to becoming the paradigm.”
