Opening Reception for ‘madder and madder and hotter and hotter’

Co-presented by Queer|Art, Lite Brite Neon, and New York Live Arts, madder and madder and hotter and hotter brings together artworks that cite, transmit, remix, and illuminate queer, trans, and feminist lineages for an urgent now. The exhibition’s title comes from Audre Lorde’s daughter, who insisted on speech, knowing that censored or repressed language grows madder and hotter inside one’s body; the language on walls, here, glows. Offering balms, songs, chants, and signs, the works in this show mix the concrete qualities of words and sculpture with the ineffability of light.

Artists in this exhibition include Queer|Art|Mentorship Mentors Jeffrey Gibson, Lola Flash, Demian DinéYazhi’, and Nelson Santos, alongside Marie Watt, EJ Hill, Ja’Tovia Gary, Erika deVries, Chryssa, and Glenn Ligon. Anchoring the show are three Queer|Art Artist Editions, commissioned annually to celebrate the work of contemporary artists in QA’s community while paying homage to the queer trailblazers who came before them—all co-created with Lite Brite Neon, the queer and trans-led neon fabrication studio responsible for collaboratively producing the works on view. Surrounded by ephemera from Lite Brite Neon’s studio, the luminous pieces cite historical icons from Marsha P. Johnson to the collective ACT UP, as well as pop cultural references and ancestral wisdom. Together, they interpellate queer subjects in a bright, warm shout.

madder and madder and hotter and hotter opens Thursday, June 12th, with a public reception from 5:30–7 PM at the Ford Foundation Live Gallery, located in the Live Arts Lobby at 219 W 19th St. The show is on view through September 5th. More information here.