HÄN Archive

Toughness & Tenderness by Jody Evans

A probe into the waltzing tension between toughness and tenderness. Text by exhibition curator Jody Evans.

The Toughness and Tenderness exhibition initially sparked from reading queer erotica and poetry. Such as excerpts from, The New Fuck You: Adventures in lesbian readings, and, Kathy Acker. It also came from an ongoing project that I have been working on relating to queer bodies, sex, discomfort and pleasure. How queer languages can be coded in modes of expression, and how we communicate to others in our community through this. I felt that a lot of artists in the community and those around me were making works relating to similar themes and I wanted to put on a show that brought us together.

The idea of actually putting on a show brewed with some friends, Meg Vaughan and Maria Mautino over coffee at the secretly queer stomping ground in Deptftord, The Waiting Room. We chatted for a while about the themes of toughness and tenderness and what it means to us as queer folk. How the toughest of dykes are sometimes the most gentle at heart. How we navigate and take up space, the aura’s we give off, and how we communicate and understand each other through glances, flagging, our clothes, energies ect.

Awkward by Jody Evans

I am a big fan of leather work, black and white photography and installations using metal. So it was definitely my go to when hunting for artists for the show. I knew of a few artists I definitely wanted to work with already creating work with these materials such as Jesse Glazzard and Imogen Cleverly. And I came across some incredible artists whilst researching too. Such as Annalisa Hayes who works with a lot of leather/fabric/chain which suited the theme perfectly.

Coming to power by Imogen Cleverly

Unravel reassemble (all kinds of messed up) by Annalisa Hayes

These more visually hard works I then paired with more tender pieces, such as Josiah’s beautiful prints touching on themes of therapy, Eleanor’s paintings with their partner and Maite’s fiery darkroom prints paired with black and white portraits. Hanon’s poetry was also on the top of my list since I had been inspired by reading poetry for the show, I felt it fitting to include writing in the exhibition.

Therapist's Office, 2019 by Josiah Moktar

Painting by Eleanor Daly

Poscards from Lover - Virginia by Maite de Orbe

Soft heat by Maite de Orbe

Poem by Hanon Gordon

Overall, we had less than a month to put together the exhibition at Bermondsey Project space for LGBTQIA+ history month. It felt like it took over my life for a little while organising it, as it was the first show that I have curated (and it still feel strange for me to say that!) But it was absolutely worth it. And it wouldn’t have been possible without all of our exhibiting artists: Cris Volpe, Hanon, Imogen Cleverley, Jesse Glazzard, Josiah Moktar, Juliusz Grabianski, Kia Matanky-Becker, Maria Mautino, Maite de Orbe, Jessie Patrick-Hooper, Meg Vaughan, Annalisa Hayes, Eleanor Daly, Martha Summers and myself.