Cruise Paradise
Cruise Paradise’s first installation was 24 screen prints illuminated by blacklight in the bathrooms of the Seattle queer underground techno rave Somatica. The latest installation was of the four main prints in the series of Cruise Paradise, again illuminated by black light. Hung in the Teal Building, previously ‘R Place,’ Seattle’s historic Gay Club, is a setting fit to mourn the perverse and free queer sexual utopia of cruising. The prints are made of layers of cream pastels and posca paint pens that glow in vibrant outlines of genitalia and flirty exchanges over screen-printed leather daddies and psychedelic patterns reminiscent of the 70s queer scene. Cruising post-AIDs/HIV is mainly virtual, Cruise Paradise attempts to capture the convoluted pursuit of the sexual/cruising utopia of the past for young trans or queer men which can act like a rite of passage. As José Esteban Muñoz puts it in Cruising Utopia (2009), “Ecstasy is queerness’ way,” it flickers to life in the pounding walls of clubs and underground raves.
Dimensions (height x width): approx 20” x 32” each (4 total)
Paper Type: Bristol.
Printing Methods: Screenprinting.
Other: Posca paint pens and cream pastels.
2023
