gay son and thot daughter
Andrei Barrett and Imaan Deen
October 10th- 20th, 2024
Commons Gallery
34 Stuyvesant St. New York, NY
Sourced from the viral internet trend in which street interviewers approach individuals and ask, “Would you rather have a gay son or thot daughter?” the title of this exhibition references the homophobic and sexist structures of contemporary culture. Primarily asked by straight men, these two identities are positioned against one another under the social standards of male heterosexuality. Embodying these two archetypes, Andrei Barrett and Imaan Deen respond to these social hierarchies through appropriation and objectification. Recontextualizing popular imagery and objects, they resist the representations formed against them by Western masculinity. Instead, through their use of painting, drawing, and printmaking they have formed an alternative visual language that subverts and rejects this heteronormative gaze.
Andrei Barrett (gay son) sources visual and linguistic data from social media, meme culture, and gay pornography to parody Western masculinity. Through appropriating imagery and text, he reinterprets his subject matter through a queered gaze to destabilize their patriarchial symbolism.
Imaan Deen (thot daughter) synthesizes her emotions and relationships through the translation of these intimate moments into surrealist environments and objects. Embracing her romantic and platonic relationships, she rejects the patriarchal restriction of female self-autonomy in order to create landscapes of self-liberation.