BK Durham, A Hemisphere in a Head of Hair, 2025
The John Burton Harter Foundation presents a group exhibition Sing the Body Electric from July 12th to August 3rd with an opening on July 12th from 6pm to 9pm.
Sponsored by WWNO and curated by Josiah Gagosian, a local artist, educator, and alum of UNO’s MFA program, Sing the Body Electric will feature work from a diverse group of contemporary LGBTQ+ artists with ties to New Orleans, including Anthony “BE3K” Badon, BK Durham, Jourdan Barnes, Keith Perelli, Ryan “phlegm” Gilbert, Ryan Leitner, Sydney Calderón, and Vee Adams. The artists will exhibit their work alongside that of the late John Burton Harter, whose work explored and documented gay male culture of the 1970s and beyond.
The works featured speak to the various ways that LGBTQ+ people creatively and collectively strive to embody a sense of self that is both liberated and true, focusing on explorations of the Queer body through the lenses of both figuration and abstraction. Over the past several decades, LGBTQ+ people have established themselves as a force for political and cultural change. Through celebration of their bodily experiences, through adornment, beautification and transformation, through community, caregiving, and advocacy, through the courageous assertion of bodily autonomy in the face of ignorance and oppression, Queer people have established their right to exist and to love in whatever form they see fit. This exhibition stands as a testament to the ongoing creative collaboration of LGBTQ+ artists with their own bodies, and with the bodies of those in whom they find love and connection.
J.B. Harter, Sherman Asleep, 1981
Sing the Body Electric will be on display July 12th through August 3rd.
Gallery hours will be on Saturdays and Sundays 12pm - 5pm, with extended gallery hours on Thursdays and Fridays 5pm - 7pm.
An Artist panel discussion is planned for Saturday July 26th, details to follow.
Ryan "phlegm" Gilbert, Ritual Drama 096, 2020
Keith Perelli, Stellatarum “The blood show’d like scarlet through the clear-brown skin of his face." (detail) 2025