Bruce Eves

Profile/CV

ARTIST’S STATEMENT Working against the backdrop of a global art practice that is all too often a self-contained tautology, my body of work has often been described (and dismissed) as merely "political". But it is not political in the traditional sense. From the earliest point in my career I have delved into the question of the "gay sensibility". As an amalgam of Aubrey Beardsley and Johnny Rotten, I have been influenced by the theoretical issues raised by performance and conceptual art, but rather than take the standard trip down memory lane into the suck-and-fuck paradigm, I've positioning myself as an ironic spectator. Cherry-picking at will from mutually exclusive sources - the morning headlines, the official record of 20th century art, the signs and signifiers of the gay male underground – has allowed me to explore the spaces between these charged relationships. While it is old news that the male body continues to be a provocation, ironically, a critique of masculinity has gone largely unexplored. ¶ Herein lies the challenge: The proposition explored in much of my work is that it should be possible to be simultaneously hot and sweaty and critical and detached. It is desirable -- even exhilarating -- to question the givens of our cultural baggage while at the same time allowing ourselves to be wrapped in its brawny arms. If there is any theme that unites my disparate body of work it is that it concentrates on the representative gestures of maleness, their signifiers, and their remains. ¶  Even though it is virtually indefinable, this much I know for certain: necks are meant for sticking out, envelopes are meant for pushing, and art is not suitable for family viewing, nor must it be emotionally uplifting. Art must refuse to kowtow to the limitless demands for the familiar and the safe and the conventional. Art has nothing to do with social work or political stability or with the ending of negative stereotypes: these are the jobs for propagandists. It's a tough world out there; do we really need any more decorators? ¶ After fully moving over to the digital side in 2000, I have established a presence internationally through my participation in New Media events and festivals in Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Cuba, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, and Venezuela. In 2001 I returned to Canada after living abroad for many years, and after a great deal of time and effort the last of the prison tattoos have finally been removed.  BRUCE EVES

Website bruceevesmuseum.blogspot.com