The Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond is pleased to announce the opening of Goodbar, a solo exhibit from New York artist Dan Halm on March 10 with a reception from 7-9 pm. This show will run concurrently with Omnium-Gatherum, a solo exhibit from painter Melissa Wilkinson. Join us for this event to meet the artists and our gallery team. Light refreshments will be served with a cash bar. The shows will be open to the public March 10-April 22.
In Melissa Wilkinson’s paintings, she appropriates from existing images of Hollywood’s golden era, late 70’s/ early 80’s tomboys and heartthrobs, disco, and private Tumblr accounts. These personas have informed her identity and personal sense of self. By creating a type of reassembled painting, these queered images challenge gender and propose the absurdity of traditional presentations as both limited and binary. Her images become coveted objects, holding hours of considerate and loving application through a painterly meditation. Wilkinson explores micro-expressions, gender play, and her coming of age as a queer person. Influenced heavily by collage and digital intervention, these meticulous watercolor and ink wash paintings investigate what it means to labor on an object in the 21st century. Water media on paper creates a vulnerable object through the tender presence of her touch.
Dan Halm’s Goodbar series tackles the anonymous fictions created online by men looking for love, sex and/or companionship. The men featured in the series, a nod to the 1977 Judith Rossner’s novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar, as well as his hunt for the perfect mate were all downloaded from profile photos off the dating app Scruff. With the advent of digital apps replacing bars and clubs as viable options of meeting other men, the nuances of cruising and the art of the flirt seem secondary or non-existent. These grids of digital men, a never-ending candy store of options (bears, queers, muscle boys, twinks, daddies, jocks, etc.), encourage the user to scroll, engage or ignore; and often reduce the men on the other side of the phone to their perceived avatars.
Call For Grant Proposals
In late 2022, The Iridian Gallery was fortunate enough to be awarded a $20,000 grant as part of the
Diversity Celebrates grant program. These funds have been earmarked to support the work of Queer
Artists of Color in the local Richmond community. We are now accepting proposals from artists,
creatives, galleries and organizations to be awarded on an ongoing basis throughout the year. There
is no deadline, applications will be reviewed and awarded as they are received until funding has
been depleted. The Iridian Gallery steering committee meets once a month.
We are looking to support creators from any background, whether fine art, performance, craft,
photography, dance, drag, design, florals, fashion, writing, music, etc. We could also fund art
educational programs that predominantly serve QPOC, sponsor exhibitions at other galleries
featuring QPOC artists, or other organizational projects. Please think of specific projects and
budgets you may require for planned work. It may be materials for an exhibit, studio equipment,
rental fees for an event, new costumes, production costs, etc. Include an itemized list of expected
costs. Funding will not exceed $2000 for an individual project. Also include a timeline for completion.
We are awarding projects that will be completed in the 2023 calendar year.
The Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond is committed to fostering lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer+ artists and their community by exhibiting their art as well as work that relates to
their experience. With this program, we are especially dedicated to amplifying the voices of local
queer artists and creators who intersectionally identify with underrepresented races and ethnicities.
Format Requirements:
All proposals will be submitted by email only and must be in the formats described below.
1. Include up to 10 images, videos, writing samples, songs, etc. of your best work. The
submission should ideally include images of work similar to that which our funding would
help support.
Images should be JPGS no larger than 1024 x 768, 72dpi, preferably under 1MB. Documents should
be in PDF format.
Files MUST be named in this format:
01YourFirstName_LastName.jpg
02YourFirstName_LastName.jpg
03YourFirstName_LastName.jpg
2. 2. If applicable, send videos or audio files. These should be shared via web link, Dropbox
or other ftp service. Please do not email large files. MP4, MOV, and MP3 files are ideal.
Please name them in the same format as images.
3. 3. Prepare a one-page statement describing the proposed project and an itemized budget
and timeline for completion. The file should be a PDF, RTF, or Word document.
4. 4. Supply an image list providing an inventory of the images/files submitted. Include
number, artist name, title, year, medium, and dimensions as applicable. This must be a
PDF, RTF, or Word document.
5. 5. Your resume and the resumes of any prospective collaborators.
Proposals that are incomplete or fail to meet the above requirements may not be reviewed by the
committee. All proposals should be emailed to theiridian@diversityrichmond.
The Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond is pleased to announce the opening of SPECTRUM, a new exhibit from artist Dakota Summer Becker and What If, a new exhibit and retrospective from textile artist Robin Ryder on January 13 with a reception from 7-9pm. Light refreshments will be served with a cash bar.
We begin our 2023 calendar of programming with the colorful works of VCU Painting alum Becker, who is also a former gallery committee volunteer.
Dakota Summer Becker (they/them) is a trans non-binary and autistic Richmond-based artist who specializes in creating hard-edge geometric color-fields with acrylic paint. Their work is an attempt to process their everyday lived experience. Dakota begins paintings as an act of self-regulation when they are feeling overwhelmed. By design, this approach lends itself to a process-oriented painting practice, in which they maintain a holistic mindset while also giving focus and care to individual parts. Small decisions accumulate on the visual surface, shaping the life and character of each painting. Ultimately, Dakota’s painting practice acts as an extension of their inner self; a customized coping tool for their neurodivergence.
Iridian Gallery Steering Committee member, Rob Ryder (he/him) is a trans artist who finds joy in the act of quiltmaking. This is an interesting turn of events, since he actively shied away from anything that was traditionally viewed as women’s work before his transition. Like his experience of gender, Rob’s quilts move between categories. He sometimes makes traditional quilts, but more often his work is improvisational or experimental in both technique and materials used. All of his quilts begin with some basic materials and the question “what if?” They finish with surface patterns that he draws using his sewing machine and thread to add another layer of expression to the quilt and act as a structural element holding the layers of the quilt together. As layered objects created through a process of exploration and questioning, they are metaphors for his lived experience.
Ryder is a dedicated Iridian Gallery Steering Committee member whose volunteer work has been critical to our success in recent years. This show will run concurrently with SPECTRUM, a show by painter Dakota Summer Becker. Join us for this event to meet the artist and our gallery team.
“A Long Time” and “A Wolf in Sheep’s Skin” Aug 12 - Oct 8
Opening Reception August 12th 7-9pm
The Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond is excited to present two new exhibitions opening August 12, 2022. “A Wolf in Sheep’s Skin” by Richmond sculptor William Lenard and “A Long Time” by jewelers Andy Lowrie and Robert Thomas Mullen will run concurrently through October 8. Our opening reception is August 12 from 7-9pm with light refreshments and a cash bar. Iridian Gallery’s hours of operation are Mon-Sun 9am-5pm with entrance through Diversity Thrift if gallery doors are not open. Throughout the ongoing pandemics, the use of face masks is strongly encouraged.
Andy Lowrie (AUS), and Robert Thomas Mullen (US) are two queer art jewelers connected by the experience of working for the same artist at different times in Estonia. Since making this connection, they have discovered a shared creative interest in the evidence of life in the materials around us, which as jewelers, they harness in objects made for wearing. For Iridian Gallery, Lowrie and Mullen have created a two-person exhibition of art jewelry called “A Long Time”. This show is an exploration of time, material and change, realised in objects of adornment using natural and human-manipulated materials and processes.
William Lenard is a sculptor originally from New England. Lenard explores their identity as a queer person and their familial connection to natural landscapes while breaking down the institutionalized connotations of brutalist architecture. They turn towards styles such as minimalism and brutalism to explore their idea of masculinity. As a queer person working with similar forms, they question what contributes as masculine art. Lenard primarily uses concrete and hardwood to materially bridge the unnatural with the natural. Concrete connects their interest with brutalism while critiquing the political connotations of this style. Lenard writes poetry to accompany their sculptural installations as further insight to the work.
Two concurrent solo shows by Richmond Artists Harrison Moenich and Tom Condon on view in the gallery daily from 9am-5pm.
"Neither/Nor", featuring new paintings from Harrison Moenich explores the depth and texture of the lived non-binary experience in America. Through these paintings, there is a search for hope that one day individuals can be seen and celebrated without being compared or neglected.
Photographer Tom Condon presents "In the Absence of Scale", featuring his lensless photogram and chemigram images. Created through unconventional resists, light, and chemistry, these pieces are not photos, but art objects that reflect material experience and invited chance as a co-author.
Join us for the opening Friday, June 24 7-9pm with light refreshments and a cash bar. Masks and social distancing are strongly recommended.
Wysteria Ivy by Megan Marlatt through February 19th
Wysteria Ivy is a stunning collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptural costume pieces. The exhibition is on view at the Iridian Gallery until February 19th. Open Tuesday through Sunday 9am-5pm. Face masks required. Artist Talk on YouTube
A recorded zoom artist talk titled The Queen’s Interview featuring artist Megan Marlatt, curator Michael A Pierce, muse Wysteria Ivy, and gallery chair Grace Wetpants is available for viewing now on YouTube.
Follow the gallery on Instagram for updates.
Love Rush - by Andrew Sedgwick Guth
Now through June 5th
The Iridian Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition featuring the work of Harrisburg, PA painter Andrew Sedgwick Guth. “Love Rush,” spanning all three Iridian exhibition spaces, features about 100 new works by Guth. Many were created during the last year of the pandemic, and some were intended for shows that never opened to the public.
Guth’s mixed media artwork is influenced by our common era of social media, seeking to understand his place as a queer artist navigating a 21st century world of technological pressures (social expectations, love, body issues, sexual capital, spiritualism, family, etc.). He pulls motifs, symbols, and techniques from his cultural background (Pennsylvania German), applying the heteronormative and protestant symbolism to queer existence and relationships. He creates his own personal folklore, mixing traditional 19th century Pennsylvania embroidery techniques with his love of constellations, astrology, and Greek mythology. Guth recontextualizes images culled from digital connections and curated social media feeds, including queer men in intimate settings alongside imagery and customs which had not been constructed to include them. The intended result is work saturated in color and the empowerment of vulnerability.
Andrew Sedgwick Guth’s work has been shown regionally and nationally continuously since 2001. His paintings and printwork have been exhibited in Philadelphia, Toronto, Pittsburgh, New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Miami, Provincetown, and Harrisburg, PA. His painting and sculptures are included in numerous private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland, Australia, and France.
We also have an online store for his artwork:
https://iridiangallery.bigcartel.com
