MASCUERADE

Revelry Gallery introduces Jacob Grant for his first solo show: MASCUERADE. This show uses portraiture and figurative oil painting to delve into current standards of maleness under the framework of a masquerade. This series considers how the masculine is made known, both publicly and to oneself. 

Under the allegory of a "masquerade," gender becomes a performance of identity, where the true masculine lies beneath the facade. The artist substantiates this concept through various symbols and motifs throughout the body of work. 

Snakes are representative of the artist's religious upbringing; the Serpent from Genesis. Here it becomes a phallic symbol teetering on death and wisdom. Some images draw on the irony of masculine performance, presenting decaying statues beside blindfolded subjects. Vibrant colors are used to 'feminize' the masculinity, distorting the stereotypical through a queer lens. Subjects are lifted from vintage gay centerfolds, fitness catalogs, and fashion photography- reformed into a classical aesthetic. 

By deliberately obscuring identifying features of the subjects, the audience can more easily engage with contemporary discourse over what it means to embrace masculinity past the hegemony.