Nigel Grimmer, who teaches Contemporary Arts Practice at the University’s Luton campus, was selected from over 300 entries to be featured as one of 35 artists in the exhibition..

The lockdown-friendly gallery has been curated by Short Supply, an artist-led collective, with support from Manchester Pride’s cultural events calendar, Superbia. The gallery launches today (27^th August) and is open for public viewing via www.shortsupply.org/queercontemporaries-artists

NOT LONG NOW! 🎉🎉🎉

Queer Contemporaries gallery showcase lands @AIRArtGallery this Thursday 27th August from 6:00-10:00 pm!!!

Don’t forget to book a ticket if you’re coming along - https://t.co/Pt3NLy36xk pic.twitter.com/6Ikl3WrMCM

— Short Supply (@shortsupplymcr) August 25, 2020

Nigel Grimmer’s  project, Analogue Disruptions, was selected for this exhibition. It focuses on photographic illusion which plays with the ideas of reality, representation and scale.

Nigel said: “Within this digital age our images now carry the scars of our technology. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to look past the once invisible surface of the photograph, and enter the illusionary space of the image.

“The images I’ve included have no editing but I use physical props that look like elements of Photoshop or Instagram editing – I aim to confuse the viewer, forcing them to question what they see, reminding them that all photography is in some way 'constructed'.”

The project features queer models who volunteered to pose for Nigel’s project through various online and social media platforms, including Instagram and Grindr.

Nigel, who teaches at the University’s School of Art and Design at Alexon House, based in Luton’s historic Hat District, said: “I think of the shoots as small collaborations, aiming to extend how the queer body is represented.”

Short Supply’s original call out for the Queer Contemporaries display looked for artists in the North West, but the digital nature of lockdown allowed artists from all over the UK to submit artwork for consideration. The event organisers have said that this has led to the wider representation of different perspectives to be included in the showcase.

Mollie Balshaw and Rebekah Beasley, Co-Directors of Short Supply, said: “It’s a privilege to experience the unique voice of queer artists –  to see their vision, be taken into their world and to not necessarily be given all the answers.

“To see someone’s art and experience something you might never have before, or see something from a perspective you hadn’t comprehended before, is education without words – it’s one of the ways in which art has a unique power to achieve things.”  

Nigel Grimmer’s diverse art practice is united by his ongoing research which explores the relationship between images created for public or personal consumption, focusing on the origins of the family photo album.

Mollie and Rebekah continued: “Nigel's work brought together a lot of ideas conceptually and visually that we thought were very topical and would fit right into what we were looking for in this showcase.

“His work plays with ideas of perception, reality and representation and all  of the questions raised by these works have come into the public’s consciousness through experiencing the pandemic and lockdown. Nigel’s work is striking, inviting and visually beautiful but incredibly well-rounded. We wanted to showcase the voices and vision of queer contemporary artists in the present day, and Nigel's work was unmissable for this line-up.” 

The University of Bedfordshire has a wide range of Art and Design courses available at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels, including Photography, Fashion Design and Animation. Follow the School of Art & Design on Instagram and visit the School's website for further information: www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/ad

Places on courses for 2020/21 are still available through Clearing – call the dedicated support team now to discuss your options on 0300 3300 703 or apply directly online via www.beds.ac.uk/clearing