19:00
Join artist and writer David Leal and artist Christopher Bond for an exploration of Bond’s research on the semiotics of ‘sleaze’ in relation to queer theory and culture. Both artists invite you to an informal conversation and sharing of work that will intimately reflect on how their practices explore the porous nature of queer masculinities, in their ability to resist sanitation and hold hidden histories and knowledge.
This session is free to attend and will be held on Zoom. Please register by emailing info (at) artworkassociation.org. Registered attendees will receive the link 10 minutes in advance of the discussion
David Leal works between Lisbon and London. He works predominantly between video and sculpture, reflecting on three main subjects: Vision, Religion and Sexuality. Born from a family that believes it was struck by a miracle, his work emphasizes the power of belief(s) and illusions, in order to inspect notions of sensitivity – through one’s senses, morals or experiences. The results are pieces that work as detectives, searching for something labeled as a soul. He also draws from his lived experiences of employment in locations such as sex-shops, gay saunas and cruising parties, to gain insight on queer sexuality. Previous exhibitions include MELTDOWN (2022) at Ridley Road Project Space, London, Staying Alive (2022) at Duplex AIR, Lisbon, and A Hunted Time (2021) at Casa do Capitão, Lisbon. He is one of the winners of the queer initiative Center.Stage/Fragment Gallery and was selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021.
Christopher Bond is an artist and writer concerned with the emotional histories of queer people, and the unfolding biopolitical concerns of the last few decades. His often minimal but psychically charged installations, as well as sprawling confessional texts, are fragments of a wide body of research that combines anecdotal encounters, magical realism, speculative fiction and performative interventions. Christopher graduated from BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths in 2020 and was a resident of the Conditions Studio Programme 2020-21. He was a selected participant of New Contemporaries 2021. Recent shows have included ‘Deep Meaningful Conversation’ at Ugly Duck Project Space, and live performances at South London Gallery and Five Years Gallery.
Image credit: Contact lens cases from Pleasuredrome sauna’s bin, 2019, David Leal. Courtesy of the artist.