YOU LEFT A MARK ON ME

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024 – JANUARY 5, 2025

Reception: Thursday, September 19, 6-8 PM

The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division presents You Left A Mark On Me, an exhibition highlighting Queer tattoo artists with an art practice outside of their tattoo work; and Queer artists who utilize tattoo imagery in their work. Curated by Zach Grear and Nelson Santos, the exhibition features paintings, drawings, ceramics, and embroidery work by Colton Ackerman, Alexandria Deters, Virginia Elwood, Evan Paul English, Zach Grear, Christian Lord, Dewey Rice, Lancelot Runge, Tamara Santibañez, and Zyra West.

You Left A Mark On Me looks at the close ties that mark-making and queer bodies connect communities and the creative outputs that come from it.  The tattoo artists in this exhibition find alternative forms of mark-making beyond the flesh, whether it’s using their hands to mold clay (Christian Lord, Tamara Santibañez), building sculptures and painting with yarn (Virginia Elwood), or making broad and colorful paint strokes (Evan Paul English, Dewey Rice, Zyra West).  On the other end of the spectrum, You Left A Mark On Me, brings together queer artists (Colton Ackerman, Alexandria Deters, Zach Grear, and Lancelot Runge) that are influenced by tattoo imagery, and use ink, thread, and found images to mark the body on paper, playing with iconic tattoo graphics and colorful patterns.

The curators, Zach Grear and Nelson Santos are also artists and collectors of tattoos, interested in how these queer communities intertwine and connect.  There is often a deep connection when a queer body is marked by another queer body and the way art expresses this queer magic and beauty.