Holidays And Hedonism: Melbourne’s Queer Art Shines In Summer Daze Exhibition

Prepare your artistic taste buds, Collingwood’s Off the Kerb gallery is dishing up a colourful feast of queer art in its second annual Summer Daze exhibition. 

Gallery owner and exhibition curator Shini Pararajasingham said this year’s showing features “softer and diluted” representations of queer identities and experiences than the previous year.

“It’s talking about queer voices in all facets and this beautiful time of summer,” she said.

With a diverse lineup of 24 local queer artists and a broad range of artistic mediums, visitors can expect to explore themes of “fun, holidays, and hedonism”.

‘We Are All Unique’

Multidisciplinary artist Nicky Tsekouras is exhibiting a collection of insects that contain both male and female characteristics, made from discarded street posters.

Inspired by a childlike fascination with insects, Tsekouras said the unisex characteristics of the gynandromorphic organisms resonated with their non-binary and queer identity. 

“They’re extremely unique in their appearance, they’re not one-sided, they’re multifaceted in their wings and different elements of their bodies,” they said.

“As queer people we are all unique and sometimes we don’t always remember that. Sometimes we can put very strict labels on ourselves.”

Midsumma

Self-proclaimed clown and performance artist Cakeface is displaying a self-portrait entitled ‘First Pancake’, influenced by the immense attention she received from her parents as their firstborn child.

“It’s an ode to putting all your effort into the first pancake and it not quite turning out right. But you always eat it anyway,” she said.

“The clown archetype is closely linked to queer experiences of belonging to a community and being disowned by others.”

Other artworks on display include David Le Goon’s smutty “piss-take” on the classic Victorian painting ‘Rock of Ages’, and Donika Fazliu’s moiré tribute to the trans and gender-diverse community.

Summer Daze began in 2022 as a celebration of the Midsumma Festival and the queer community, with the inaugural exhibition coinciding with Pararajasingham reaching a personal milestone: coming out as queer.

“There was such a supportive warm vibe last year, especially with all the emotions that surfaced from coming out and I just felt really protected and safe,” she said. “That gave me the impetus to run this every year.”

Summer Daze will continue to exhibit until 1 Feb 2024 at Off the Kerb gallery on Johnston St, Collingwood.