Strangeness, irregularity, pushing back against traditional understandings of what “should be” or “has been” and entering into the unknown: to queer is to defy a single mode of representation, to question naming as an act of freezing or dismissing. Queer is not only a noun; it’s also a verb, an action. It’s not who, but how we are. To queer is to interrogate what is considered to be “natural,” to reexamine narratives and identify alternate viewpoints; to embrace a more fluid spectrum of viewing identity and gender, among other things. How can contemporary sculpture, installation, sound, performance and interdisciplinary projects embody the action of queering? How can material and form embody or imagine what is “other”? — Stephanie Mercedes
This exhibit is funded in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.