MY IDEA OF FUN

[furtherfield]

B r u c e E v e s

MY IDEA OF FUN

SELECTED MULTIPLES - 1996-2003
GALLERY X 491 Church Street - Suite 200 (Mon-Fri 8 am - 8 pm)
July 14 - August 8 (Opening Reception, July 17 6 - 8 pm)


Drawing from sources as wide-ranging as underground gay history and the
official record of the 20th century avant-garde, "My Idea of Fun" is a
collection of conceptually-driven, photo-based works which explore the
spaces between currently charged relationships. Bruce Eves navigates the
grey area between desire and despair -- between voyeurism and public
display, between male vanity and aggression, between sexuality and
doctrinaire political extremism. "Deeply rooted in the culture of
homosexuality, Bruce Eves has created a significant number of photographic
masterpieces that challenge the narrowly defined and increasingly regimented
"life style" of the 20th century." (Tony Hu, Department of Art History and
Theory, University of British Columbia -- Vancouver)


"Bruce Eves works with sex scenes, but breaks them down to pixilated blocks
of color until the bodies are unrecognizable. What we assume to be sexual
scenarios are determinable only by the settings and the blocks of
flesh-toned squares in the center of the images. In Eves' work, intimacy
dissolves into binary sequences." (The Portland Mercury)


"A male with many shadows, declaring an intelligent and conscious disdain
towards our over consumptive, mediated western culture . . . some of his
best work creates a dark honest (sometimes frightening) clarity, he knows
that hypocrisy is part of life but is not part of the realization of life."
"A collection of images showing a healthy distrust of 'art for family'
viewing which is a refreshing non conformist stance." (Marc Garrett,
Furtherfield.org - London UK)


"Art designed to put you back in touch with all those illogical fears you've
pushed back into your subconscious in order to avoid facing them. So be
warned!" (Cripptology search engine)


"A sly conceptualist." (Kevin Mutch, ArtLexis - NYC)


After the vice squad decreed that his body of work was "in my opinion,
demeaning and dehumanizing." (Detective Sergeant R. E. (Bob) Matthews -
Joint Forces Pornography/Hate Literature Section, Anti-Rackets Branch,
Ontario Provincial Police) several years ago, Eves recognized that he "must
have been doing something right!"


Concurrent with art practice, one of Eves' proudest accomplishments was as
co-founder and chief curator of the International Gay History Archive, now
part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts division of the New York Public
Library. This experience had directly informed his work as an artist, and
led Eves to conclude that "Art has nothing to do with social work or
political stability or with ending negative stereotypes: these are the jobs
for propagandists." Eves has recently returned to Canada after living abroad
for many years and he continues to exhibit internationally. The works that
make up "My Idea of Fun" have never been shown in Canada.


Bruce Eves is available for interviews and can be reached at 416-532-5973

or at evesham at sympatico.ca


Gallery X is a volunteer based not-for profit gallery run out of the offices
of Xtra newspaper, and 20% of all sales will benefit LEGIT (Lesbian and Gay
Immigration Task Force).