As the third in Nick & Jake’s series of immersive multi-media installations that examine how same-sex marriage fits into the American Dream, (WEST-ER) head to the high desert of the American West. Taking inspiration from the 19th century travels of Scottish lord and ultimate dude William Drummand Stuart, trader/entrepreneur power-couple Robert Campbell & William Sublette, and the artists’ own marriage, A MARRIAGE: 2 (WEST-ER) reconstructs the oft-forgotten history of the West as a refuge for homosexuals; a frontier free of social mores and restrictive codes. Taking apart the Hollywood narrative of a straight He-Man West embodied by John Wayne, WEST-ER simultaneously asserts a claim to a queer historical narrative, morns a loss of frontier, and attempts to locate the “West” to which young men should aspire now. A MARRIAGE: 2 (WEST-ER) will include a new series of Nick and Jake’s signature cut maps with video, installations, and wax remnants of an action performed in Wyoming.
“Go West Young Man, Go West . . . er “ – MOTTO, Issue #21
Artist Talks
Tuesday, March 25
6:30-8pm
Freemont née Stewart Lake
Nick and Jake will talk about William Drummond Stewart, queer desire in the pre-pioneer West, becoming part of the ‘Mainstream’ and the limits of the frontier (historical, cultural and imagined).
Tuesday, April 8
6:30-8pm
The Duke
John Wayne (for better, worse or otherwise) is deeply ingrained in our DNA. ‘The Duke’ will focus on Western Masculinity and the idealized ur-man/hero typified in John Wayne Westerns as both cover and carrier of homoerotic impulses.
Nick & Jake’s work has been presented in the last year in solo exhibitions in New York City (HERE Arts Center), North Adams, MA (Gallery 51), Chicago (ArtSlant Prize Presents), and Boston (Sleeping Weasel cyber gallery). Nick & Jake are members of the acclaimed devised theater company the TEAM (RoosevElvis, Mission Drift, Architecting, Particularly in the Heartland) and have collaborated with the choreographers Faye Driscoll, Yoshiko Chuma, and Pavel Zustiak.
On View
March 8-April 12
Location
The Main Gallery
51 Bergen St.