Young Members | Queer Eyes

YOUNG MEMBERS | QUEER EYES

CONTEMPORARY COLLAGE & PHOTOGRAPHY IN AOTEAROA

 

To celebrate Gilbert & George: The Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Exhibition 2022, we invite you to join us for an in-depth evening with three of Aotearoa’s artists at the cutting edge of contemporary collage and photography. Across three presentations, Dr George Hajian, Lula Cucchiara and Māhia Jermaine Dean share their practices, stories and the intersection of queer, immigrant and Indigenous perspectives in their work. Queer Eyes is the second installment in our new Young Members event programme, for the art-obsessed under 40.

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Dr. George Hajian (@hajian_george) is an artist, researcher and an educator. Born in Lebanon of Armenian descent, his practice focuses on the concept of masculine embodiment and its relationship with globalisation, technology, pop culture, and pornography. Using complex analogue methods, he brings together screenprinting, mark-making and collage to create a diverse body of work.

georgehajian.com / hardworkingcovers.com / instagram.com/hajian_george

 

Lula Cucchiara (@lulacucchiara) is a queer Latinx artist, creative and film director. Originally from Argentina, Lula has called Aotearoa home for the past fifteen years. Her film, art, and fashion photography background give her work an allure and polish that is distinctly her own, with clients including Mercedes, i-D, Vogue and many more. Recently, Lula made her feature film debut with the remarkable documentary Fiona Clark: Unafraid. Passionate about sharing stories and doing so with integrity and expertise, all of Lula’s work has the power to move, inspire and entertain.

 

Māhia Jermaine Dean (@eyesofkaos) is a multidisciplinary artist of Tangata Moana Māori descent and a longstanding contributor to Aotearoa’s ballroom scene and surrounding projects through the FAFSWAG collective and House Of Coven-Aucoin. Their work has spanned photography, digital collage, performance and most recently augmented reality, in their collaborative installation ATUA which premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2022. Across their wide body of work, Māhia has developed a practice that amplifies indigenous and queer experiences through vivid storytelling and a striking visual perspective.

 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

For Gilbert & George anything – and everything – is a potential subject matter for art. They have peered closely at the big questions of life: religion, sex, violence, hope, addiction and death. Through their pictures and ‘living sculpture’, they have challenged taboos, fought artistic convention and taken a fresh look at the way we live now. 

Gilbert & George: The Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Exhibition 2022 brings together existing and new work from the 21st century to look back over a joint career that has courted controversy, challenged the status quo and championed alternative views. Exhibiting work direct from Gilbert & George’s own personal collection, it brings some of the most exciting of British art to New Zealand for the very first time. 

 

ABOUT YOUNG MEMBERS

Young Members is a periodic e-newsletter and event programme for the art-obsessed under 40.

Each event offers a perfect wind-down after work, activity for a first date, catch-up with friends or a chance to meet someone totally new. You’ll hear from fresh, contemporary voices, artists and curators and of course, enjoy a complimentary drink, including the best non-alcoholic beverages from our mates at Almighty.

While designed for those under 40, if you're a Member who's young at heart, feel free to join us. 
 

This event is part of our membership programme. Join us from $50 per year. 

BECOME A MEMBER

 

Image credits: George Hajian, Untitled, 2014. Torn and layered split-fountain screenprints. Courtesy of George Hajian. | Image of Lula Cucchiara courtesy of Lula Cucchiara. | Image of Māhia Jermaine Dean courtesy of Māhia Jermaine Dean.