More often than not, our lives are intertwined with art, making it impossible to imagine a world without it. This is especially the case for Adrien Crossman.
Crossman is a queer and non-binary educator, who explores the “affective qualities of queerness” through specific aesthetics and sensibilities. Their work is closely tied to queer and trans identities, scrutinizing the influence of white supremacy and colonization of the main perceptions of gender and sexuality.
Their latest exhibition, haven, was on display in the Project Room at the Union Gallery from March 5 to May 11. As audiences’ step into haven, they’re invited to take refuge in the memories of queer bars in the past, while honouring imagined spaces that live on indefinitely through film and media.
“I don’t remember a time where I wasn’t involved [in creating art]. I think my family was supportive growing up of that part of me. I took art classes when I was young. It’s just something I always did,” Crossman said in an interview with The Journal.
Like many other artists struggling during the pandemic and grappling with the reasons for creating art, Crossman realized the important thing about art is “its capacity to foster community and create a container for dialogue.” This realization has since guided all their artistic choices.
Haunted by memories of physical gay bars and queer spaces that have closed down, Crossman reflects on how these memories occupy the same space as fictional queer bars in the media.
“When these places don’t exist physically, watching a movie, there can be a comfort in revisiting those spaces over and over,” Crossman said. “You can’t go to those physical bars, they don’t replace it, especially for someone who lives in a small town or someone who’s closeted, these spaces in media can offer a level of refuge.”
For Crossman, the two pieces closest to their heart is an untitled video of clips of depictions of gay bars in TV and film. The video, which is roughly 40 minutes long, explores the depiction of gay bars in the media, repurposing existing footage to create a new narrative.
“The concept behind that piece was very much to bring some of the ambiance of those spaces into the exhibition. […] The video piece brings the audio element because a lot of the scenes have music in them,” Crossman said.
‘The Altar’ is another piece from the exhibition Crossman feels very close to. They created the piece the previous summer, after they were inspired by the novel Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg and wanted to pay a homage to the author.
“That piece just felt very special, meaningful, and intimate in a way that it documents my relationship to the text and reflects my experience within the cross-generational dialogue or intergenerational relationship of queer history,” Crossman said in an interview with The Journal.
Crossman advises Queen’s students to invest in a community who supports them for who they are, encouraging students to embrace who they are because it’s only then that other hardships become more tolerable.
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