Each month Strut exhibits the work of a local qay or queer artist, a tradition we have been doing for the past 12 years. For the month of June we are very happy to exhibit the work of Danyol Leon. Join us for a very special Pride edition of our monthly art opening, where we will celebrate the art of Danyol Leon and enjoy some drag performances. Free drinks and light snacks will be provided, all are welcome to come.
Artist Statement:
"As we move through life, so many of us restrain our sense of ...
Each month Strut exhibits the work of a local qay or queer artist, a tradition we have been doing for the past 12 years. For the month of June we are very happy to exhibit the work of Danyol Leon. Join us for a very special Pride edition of our monthly art opening, where we will celebrate the art of Danyol Leon and enjoy some drag performances. Free drinks and light snacks will be provided, all are welcome to come.
Artist Statement:
"As we move through life, so many of us restrain our sense of selves to fit a mask. We want to be just like everyone else, and in doing so to go unnoticed. That mask, while often metaphorical to represent gender norms, racial norms, class norms, is a very unique experience for people of size. Fitting a mask, obfuscating ones true self with certain clothes, styles, or posture out of fear of rejection is a survival tactic for large folks. They do it to avoid pain, and to avoid the gaze of judgment from others, and from themselves.
Rarely do I see large men in art pieces, and certainly not connected to gender fluidity or pleasure. We are covered up and desexualized to be a piece of the background. It’s my experience that in life, large men are contained to the background, and told that they can’t be admired especially if you’re also a person of color, transgender, shorter, of femme. This show offers a different perspective. This show is a celebration of large, beautiful male bodies exploring their size, their genders, and their relationship to pleasure without any barriers – imposed, self made or otherwise." -Danyol Leon.
San Francisco artist Danyol Leon was born in 1970 in Orange County, California just a stone’s throw away from Disneyland. Growing up he nourished himself on a steady diet of pop art, cubism, and sarcasm. Danyol’s use of his own life and surroundings combine to form a dizzying combination of colors, patterns, and textures. These are then masked out by definitive figures and shapes, somehow bringing some definition to his chaos. While using equal parts nostalgia and current events together, Danyol’s pop-influenced mixed media paintings explore the liminal spaces between surface and emotion; gender role, responsibility and reality; along with other inconsistencies in our social fabric. For sales information, please write to: danyol@danyol.com
www.danyol.com