PRESS: The title says it all…sort of: Shaun Johnson’s CODES at Queens 

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QUEENS presents it's inaugural exhibition of Shaun Johnson's CODES. CODES consists of an installation of portraits collaged into a mural. The portraits document gay male singers of the 70’s and 80’s, specifically those who were “straight” or didn’t identify as gay. Each photograph was selected for what is perceived as a coded gay language through images. Johnson, himself gay, grew up with these pictures, oblivious to gayness as a culture and sexual identity. The mural functions as a checklist, or time capsule, to the infiltration of this vocabulary in Johnson’s subconscious. Printed in Xerox, the photographs are arranged in a chaotic tableau, it’s characters campy, glamorous, and macho. Images of an audience watch on, looking enthralled.

 

Shaun Johnson received his BFA from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. In 2017 he attended the Mountain School of Art in Los Angeles. His work has been shown at The Pit, Chimento Contemporary, and Visual Artists Group, He lives and works in Los Angeles.

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