Jeremy Shaw
Variation FQ
23. June – 21. July 2013

In the exhibition Variation FQ, Jeremy Shaw will premiere his latest work – a 16mm film that presents the transgender voguer, Leiomy Maldonado, within the stark, black and white aesthetics of an experimental 1960’s ballet film. Voguing is a primarily African-American and Latino, gay, dance subculture that began in New York in the late 1960’s, attracting little attention in the mainstream. Using sharp black and white contrast, step-and-repeat optical effects, slow motion, and an original soundtrack composed by the artist himself, the film amplifies the unique, cathartic movements of the protagonists dance, both eloquent and violent. Variation FQ is a study of the co-evolution of subculture, gender, dance, and special effects.

Jeremy Shaw’s work explores altered states and the cultural and scientific practices that aspire to, or attempt to map, transcendental experience. Often involving the documentation of physical and ritualistic activities of subculture, his videos, photographs, and installations offer propositions around the translation of experiences often considered untranslatable.

Jeremy Shaw – Variation FQ – Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, June 20 – July 21, 2013 from Circlesquare on Vimeo.

With the support of the Canadian Embassy, Berlin, Johann Konig, and Kvadrat.