Boy’s Life

Guest-curated by Denise Markonish, Artspace, New Haven, CT

Boy’s Life guest-curator Denise Markonish examines what it means to be a boy, and how these stereotypes follow through to manhood. The works in Boy’s Life use humor, social commentaries and cultural references to question our assumptions of masculinity specifically and definitions of gender more generally. Paintings of minnows barely registering on foot-long rulers, photographs of war re-enactors, styrofoam tool benches, and artistically enhanced car hoods individually illustrate disparate aspects of the male experience, yet combine to subvert traditional stereotypes. The artists, or “boys” as Markonish refers to them, draw on childhood experiences, cultural pressures, and personal vocations to create work that teeters on the edge of familiarity and fanaticism.