Nestled between the Shake Smart line and lake view study spots on the first floor of Norris University Center, a curated collection of fluorescent fruit photographs by artist Linye Jiang catches the eyes of passersby. Her exhibition “Sweet, Juicy and Rebellious” premiered Sept. 26 at Northwestern’s student-run Dittmar Memorial Gallery.
Jiang grew up in Shenzhen, China, in what she describes as a “conservative, yet open” environment. At 14, she discovered an online gay novel written by her father. Two decades later, he opened up to Jiang about his sexuality, she said. Curious about the way her father could embody traditional male roles in her house as a husband and father while showcasing his gay life online, Jiang began to explore ideas of homosexuality through photographs.
“I just did these fruit portraits,” Jiang said. “I modified the fruits because I learned this term in Western culture that they call gay men ‘fruity’ because they think they’re sweet, juicy and soft.”
Jiang said she experimented with cutting the fruits to show rage and elements of violence and adding decorations, such as sparkles and glitter, to showcase queerness. After taking photos of the fruits, she printed them out, laser cut them and covered them in resin with acrylic, neon pink sheet paper.
The project has been ongoing for Jiang, but the exhibit was installed in the gallery last month and will run through Oct. 21.
Weinberg sophomore and registrar and student supervisor Elyse Malamud was in charge of curating Jiang’s exhibition. Jiang submitted her portfolio of “Sweet, Juicy and Rebellious” to the gallery team last year and was chosen during the Spring Quarter.
The Dittmar curators were drawn to the unique medium that Jiang experimented with. They were excited about highlighting a queer story in the space, Malamud said.
“The medium of the pieces really stood out to us,” she said. “She has a very unique style and the combination of the acrylic with the resin afforded the gallery the opportunity to have three-dimensionality in the space and creativity in the way that the pieces were installed.”
The exhibition consists of 20 photographs and two contrasting videos titled “Warmth” and “Tenderness.”
Kimberly Mills, assistant director for art and programs at Norris, said she feels the exhibition allows the gallery team to offer a safe space to explore gender identity through the language of art.
“It allows us to continue to address the things that are relevant to students and allow us to discuss [themes] and navigate [them] in a number of ways,” Mills said.
Discussing gender identity also made Jiang consider the societal expectation placed upon women to be vulnerable and expressive. She said it inspired her to begin exploring the ways in which femininity and strength could be shown through fruit.
“I wanted to use this theory to celebrate these qualities,” Jiang said. “I take two of the qualities of the fruit, sweet and juicy, and put another opposite quality, like rebellious, into the title because they can happen within one person. They can be juicy and soft, and rebellious and tough.”
At the opening reception of “Sweet, Juicy and Rebellious,” over 100 students, staff and community members filtered through the gallery throughout the night. In the last 30 minutes of the reception, Jiang and fellow artist Marvin Veloso had a conversation surrounding the installation, during which students asked them questions.
Veloso, who is pursuing a master’s degree in the Department of Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, said Jiang’s work “activated the space.” He said her portrayal of queerness through fruits provides space for trauma and healing to “live alongside one another.”
“I often look at history of LGBTQ+ activism in the U.S., (and its) history is often loaded with violence and trauma,” Veloso said. “Often people turn away from that. It’s visceral, it cuts deep and it unsettles us. But that’s something that I can’t turn away from because I’m still trying to process that, and to turn away from it would not resolve that trauma.”
Veloso will give a performance lecture called “Alimentary Affects” in the Dittmar Gallery Thursday, where they will share 21 notes on the exhibition.
Veloso said he hopes the performance will continue to foster organic conversations surrounding the subtleties and extremes of queerness.
“Art prompts us to have a conversation and confront these histories of queer and gender struggles for justice,” he said. “Art is necessary for education.”
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Dittmar Gallery explores intersection of art and poetry in ‘Well Versed’
— Chicago artist Trotter Alexander explores Hawaiian culture in Dittmar Gallery exhibit ‘Ka Makana o’ka’
— “Wordless Creatures” allows artists to represent identity via objects
