What makes a word? Queer art exhibition to be held in Whanganui

Artist Mel Fleet at her studio in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

A Whanganui art exhibition is being put on in the hope of providing a space for the city’s LGBTQIA+ artists.

The exhibition, titled Queer?, will be held at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre from June 13 to July 2, coinciding with International Pride Month.

Exhibition organiser Mel Fleet said the name for the exhibition came from discussions she’s had about the many multiplicities of the word queer and how its meaning has changed over time.

“It used to have bad connotations, whereas these days younger queer people are taking the word back and saying, ‘I’m proud to be queer’.”

The art on display will be queer in the sense it comes from queer artists like herself, but also in the classical sense of it being outside of the norm.

She hoped people came away from the exhibition thinking about what it means for both art and a person to be queer.

“What is queer art? Is it queer because the people that create it are queer? Or is it queer because of the subject matter?

“That’s the whole thing about the word - it’s got so many different layers to it rather than just the one definition,” she said.

The exhibition will be a space for other queer artists in the city to display their work as many had not had the chance to do so due to lack of time or funds.

“It’s all well and good sitting at home in your caravan making art, but unless people see it, what’s the point in you making it?”

A wide range of art will be on display, with works ranging from print to paint to photography to digital art.

Fleet herself works in multiple forms.

“I do assemblage art but... I’ll make the piece and I’ll take a photo and play around with it digitally, so they’re quite different in the photo form,” she said.

Works part of the exhibition will be for sale, with 20 per cent of the profits made from the exhibition being donated to local LGBTQIA+ charity Pride Whanganui.

Fleet is married to Pride Whanganui trustee Christina Emery and said since going fulltime with her art, she’d wanted to do an exhibition for the charity during Pride Month.

She hoped the exhibition would raise a decent amount, as the charity did a lot to support the local queer community.

The final day people can deliver artwork for the exhibition is June 9.

Artists interested in the exhibition can contact Fleet on Facebook for terms and conditions.