Writing
In my current body of work I investigatigate stereotypic masculine representation in contemporary society. As catalyst, I utilize my own body exclusively, engaging both epic-scale and stylistically-historic technique
This work develops personal narratives, undermining the often fantastical/mythic, violent male identities within these historic genres. Through the incorporation of common-place costuming and props I juxtapose the mundane realities of contemporary life. In using my body, coupled in various states of nudity, I aim to confront notions of narcissism implicit in the homocentric gaze. I set up scenarios addressing theatricalities of the everyday and the normalcy of desire.
My intention within this work is to reveal the domestic, solitary nature of queerness, elevating my lived experience to a state of grand-presentation. The spaces containing these performances, minimalistic and bordering on tableau, reference the constructed nature of sexuality and identity; addressing anxieties about mortality/decay, exposing bodily vulnerabilities, regardless of one’s virility. In communicating the significance that identity is socially constructed, through the subject and objective ideas of nobility/status, mined from historic portraiture, I am interested in creating self-anxious, self-referential queer counter-narratives.
Zachari Logan has exhibited his work widely in both Canada and internationally and has been featured and reviewed in many international publications.
Craig Scott Gallery (Toronto, Canada): www.craigscottgallery.com
Galerie JeanRoch Dard (Paris, France): www.jeanrochdard.com
Daniel Cooney Fine Art (NYC, NY)
www.danielcooneyfineart.com
Galerie ArteVistas (Barcelona, Spain): www.artevistas.com
Heandbones Gallery (Toronto, Ont.): www.headbonesgallery.com
Galerie La Petite Mort (Ottawa, Ont.): http://www.lapetitemortgallery.com/
Spinello Gallery (Miami, Fl):
www.spinellogallery.com
For all other Inquiries, please e-mail: zachrelige@hotmail.com
Exerpt taken from, Border Crossings Magazine article, "Grinning And Baring It" By Robert Enright.
"Logan is enamoured of the possibilities of projecting fictional identities from any number of sources and, invariably, the image he conjures in his imagination is eroticized. Texts as different as Orlando, Gulliver’s Travel and the Bible have been generative in this regard. In 'Gulliver', 2005, he reconfigures the relationship between the Lilliputians and the eponymous hero of Swift’s satire. “The idea of the Lilliputians crawling all over him and tying him down created this instant homoerotic image in my head,” Logan says, just as the image of the Biblical Lazarus carried a sexual charge that he elaborated in a series called the 'Lazarus Drawings'. Their manner can be more lyric (part Ingres and part Hockney), even though they began in the problematic territory of eroticized suicide bombers. Logan is aware of the specific history of gay representation in the larger generalized history of art, and he mixes the two traditions at will. One of his painted portraits, 'Wrong Team', 2007, came out of his interest in the way that Manet composed The Fifer of 1866. “I was interested in the stance and how simplistic and sophisticated that space was.” But Logan’s self-rendering is intentionally ambiguous. He undercuts the clarity of Manet’s figure and makes his own image a collection of misdirections; one eye is obscured, the back is arched in a weird way, his shoelaces are untied and, most significantly, he has no pants. Whatever dignity he may have had as a batter will evaporate as soon as he moves. “I’m interested in underlying themes of bravado and heroism,” he says, “but their interest comes through the creation of a self-anxious Queer narrative.”
Showing
Upcoming solo exhibitions in 2011/ 2012 :
October/November 2011: Disappearances. Galerie Jean Roch Dard, Paris, France.
November/December 2011: Trama & Other Stories. Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York, NY.
October 2011: Beautiful Losers Project, Headbones Gallery, Vernon BC.
Jan 2012: TBA. Craig Scott Gallery, Toronto, Ont.
September/October 2012: TBA, Gallery 12-14, Vienna, Austria.
Selected solo exhibitions:
Duality, ArteVistas Gallery, Barcelona, Spain. (2010)
Poser, Galerie Zephyr, Montreal, Que. (2010)
Beautiful Losers, Presented by Envoy Enterprises at Headquarters Studio, New York, NY. (2010)
The Lazarus Drawings, Galerie La Petite Mort, Ottawa Ont. (2010)
The Myth of Pants, Galerie JeanRoch Dard, Paris, France. (2009)
New Drawings, Envoy Enterprises, 131 Chrystie St. New York, NY. (2009)
The Anxious Actor, Snelgrove Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sk. (MFA Exhibition, 2008)
Play Boys, Craig Scott Gallery, Toronto. (2007)
Rough Trade, Avenue Gallery, Saskatoon, SK. (2006)
Circumference, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK. (2005)
Same Difference, (BFA) Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK. (2004)
Selected Group Exhibitions/Art Fairs:
Perro el Muerto, Pristine Galerie. Monterrey, Mexico. (March-May 2011)
Domestic Queens Project, FOFA Gallery, Concordia University. Curated by Evergon. (March-April 2011)
Infadels, Galerie La Petite Mort, Ottawa, Ont./ Abnormals Gallery, Berlin, Germany & Poznan, Poland. (Dec 2010- April 2011)
Littlest Sister, Anthony Spinello Gallery, Miami Fl. (Nov/Dec 2010)
Self/Exposure, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York, NY. (2010)
Memento, Werkstatt Gallery, Berlin, Germany. (2010)
I see myself in you, Bronx Art Space, New York, NY. (2010)
Gasoline Rainbow, Gallery CS-13, Cincinnati Ohio. (2010)
Beautiful Losers, PULSE Art Fair NYC, Spinello Gallery (2010)
Saint Sebastien Forever, Galerie Oberkampf. Paris, France. (2010)
When I Grow Up, (collaboration with Sophie Calle) Galerie JeanRoch Dard, Paris, France. (2009)
NUDE Manifest, Manifest Gallery. Cincinnati, Ohio. (2009)
Summer Camp, Exile. Berlin, Germany. (2009)
Figurations, Headbones Gallery, Toronto, Ont. (2009)
Self, Identity 1: MFA Now Exhibition, Praxis International. Miami, Fl. (2009)
NEOPRIEST, (travelling exhibition) Headbones Gallery. Toronto, Definitely Superior. Thubder Bay, Ont, Art Mur, Montreal Que. (2009)
Salon du dessin / New Drawings, Jeanroch Dard Gallery, Paris, France (2009)
Flatlanders: Saskatchewan Artists on the Horizon, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK. (2008)
That’s So Gay, Dominion Building, Saskatoon, Sk. (curated/exhibited) (2008)
Body Language, Lehmann Leskiw Gallery, Toronto, Ontario. (2007)
Works on Paper, Neutral Ground Gallery, Regina Sk. (2006)
Inaugural Drawers Selection, Headbones Gallery, Toronto, Ont. (2005)
Reading
** A full-length feature book, PORTRAITS WITHOUT PANTS: THE ART OF ZACHARI LOGAN is being released through Sternthal Publications. October 2011 with essays by prominant British art historian Edward Lucie-Smith. **
100 Artists Of the Male Figure. (Hard-cover book) Eric Gibbons, Shiver Publications, Atglen, PA. USA.
NewYorker Magazine. Self/Exposure, Daniel Cooney Fine Art. (Exhibition review)
PREF Magazine, No. 39. Paris, France. summer 2010 (Feature article)
FULCRUM, University of Ottawa publication, Article: “Top Three Canadian Visual Artists” by Maria Rondon.
RG: La Revue Gaie Des Québécois, No. 328, Montreal (cover, image, text)
VISIONS Magazine, Winter/Spring 2010. Beijing, China. (images, text)
Eulogy for the Buoyant, poetry chapbook. Jack Pine Press Pub.
PARQ Magazine. No. 15 Oct. 2009 Lisbon, Portugal.
(Interview, images)
TOSCANA 2: Matthias Herrmann.
(original prose, images)
When I Grow Up: Exhibition Catalogue. Galerie Jean Roch Dard, Paris France. (images, commentary)
N U D E, Exhibition Catalogue. Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati Ohio.
CityBeat Cincinnati, Manifest Gallery Debuts revealing Nude, By: Selena Reder. Cincinnati, Ohio.
CRUSH Magazine, Foot/Soldier. Issue No. 2 New York, NY. June 2009. Cover image, interview and portfolio.
TETU Magazine, February 2009, No.141 Paris, France. (Image, commentary.)
FLATLANDERS: Saskatchewan Artists on the Horizon: Exhibition Catalogue. Mendel Art Gallery. (January 2009)
Ninja/LAB Magazine: Youth Inquisitions. Issue no. 5. Paris, France. (images)
SLURP Magazine. Issue 5. Paris, France. (images, interview, commentary.)
Border Crossings Border Views section. Grinning and Baring It, By: Robert Enright. Issue no.103, (Images, commentary)
Black flash magazine. Artist project: Postcard project issue 24.1 fall 2006. (Image)
Mix Magazine 31.1, Spotlight Artist: Themes, Thoughts and Dialogue. June 2006. (Images, commentary)