Please join the Center for Gender and Sexuality, WSU Galleries & Art Collection, and Mighty Real / Queer Detroit (MR/QD) for I’ll Be Your Mirror: An evening preview for MR/QD’s city-wide June Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Queer Art.

The community at WSU and MR/QD come together during WSU’s Pride Week to illuminate the rich history and current landscape of queer art in Detroit. Through diverse and enriching topics, the event will introduce the upcoming exhibition I’ll Be Your Mirror: Reflections of the Contemporary Queer that will be held at the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, WSU, along with 12 Detroit venues and galleries in June. Exhibition programming in June will feature 170 artists, over 800 works, film screenings, artist talks, live performances, panels, and poetry readings.

In addition, the evening’s event will include an exhibition of works from the University Art Collection, a reading from Marc Arthur’s performance Memories of a Supernatural AIDS Crisis, a preview of I’ll Be Your Mirror: Reflection of the Contemporary Queer, and a panel discussion featuring several of the exhibiting artists and members from the Detroit community.

Event Schedule:  

University Art Collection Exhibition Reception: 5-6 PM 

• Works from the collection that embrace diversity, identity, and culture, created by artists connected to Detroit’s LGBTQIA+ community. 

• The exhibition will include work by Tony Bluestone, Carl Demeulenaere, John Corbin, Gary Elenko, Ed Fraga, Brenda Goodman, John Hunter, Paul Kotula, James Stephens, Jon Strand, Lois Teicher, and Sam Wagstaff.

Mighty Real / Queer Detroit introduction: 6-6:15 PM 

• patrick burton (Creative Director / Curator, Mighty Real/Queer Detroit)

• Simone Chess (Director, Center for Gender and Sexuality (CGS), and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Associate Professor of English, WSU)

Memories of a Supernatural AIDS Crisis: 6:15-6:30 PM

• Written and directed by Marc Arthur (Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre & Dance, WSU) and performed by Notorious Pink Flowers, X. Alexander Durden, and Marc Arthur.

In this queer sci-fi drama set one hundred years in the future, Detroit is the last bastion of human life on Earth. Pandrion and Xylophlactis are in love and embark on a quest to choreograph forgotten memories of AIDS activism when they discover that HIV produces supernatural abilities. This performance will be staged on June 29th as part of MR/QD in Wayne State’s new Hilberry Gateway Theatre. The project is supported by a Creative/Research grant from Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. 

Panel Discussion: 6:30-7:30, with Q & A to follow 

• patrick burton (Creative Director / Curator, Mighty Real/Queer Detroit)

• Andrew Jordan (Programming Coordinator, Mighty Real/Queer Detroit)

• Marc Arthur (Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre & Dance, WSU)

• Tylonn Sawyer (Detroit Artist and Professor of Art, Oakland Community College)

• Emilia Nawrocki (WSU BFA ‘20, Detroit Artist)

• Kasper Ray O’Brien (Detroit Artist)

• Bre’Ann White (Detroit Artist and Photographer)

ABOUT

I’ll Be Your Mirror: Reflections of the Contemporary Queer is a month-long exhibition featuring over 170 artists and over 800 works spread across 12 Detroit venues – plus film screenings, artist talks, live performances, panels, and poetry readings. The exhibition explores the mirrored relationship between art and self as well as art and community, highlighting the role of art in achieving personal visibility and social connection. At once a rhapsodic celebration of queer culture and a testament to the power of representation through art, the exhibition marks a significant and joyful milestone for the art world, beginning a biannual tradition of showcasing and celebrating LGBTQ+ art on an international scale.  

I'll Be Your Mirror: Reflections of the Contemporary Queer will run from Friday, May 31, to Sunday, June 30, in various Detroit galleries.