Living for the Fame

Living for the Fame is an ongoing drawing- and text-based installation that explores the currency of gay images. Sourcing images from Instagram, Tumblr, Grindr, SCRUFF, and other social media platforms, Ironside studies images of self to consider identity, desire, and ironies of social media. These photos which took so long to stage and select are typically consumed casually in endless feeds and disposed of easily with a left swipe. Ironside represents them as stunning and delicate framed drawings in the formal space of the gallery. In pink glitter, Ironside inserts decontextualized lyrics. “I fake it so real, I am beyond fake” from Doll Parts by Hole acts as an anchor in the installation, a piece of an anthem for the post-internet age.

Chris Ironside received his MFA from York University and BA from the University of Guelph. His drawings and photographs have been exhibited throughout North America. His work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, C Magazine and Headmaster Magazine, and exhibited at Angell Gallery, Daniel Faria Gallery, the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives and the Gladstone Hotel (Toronto), Four-Eleven Gallery (Provincetown) and with ClampArt at the Art on Paper Fair (New York). He has formerly taught in the School of Fine Art and Music at The University of Guelph and currently teaches in the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University.

Artist Talk: Chris Ironside

Artist talk with Chris Ironside through his solo exhibition Living for the Fame, and the exhibit Hall of Fame, which Ironside curated from the AGP’s Permanent Collection. Recorded November 2, 2019.

Videography and editing by Rob Viscardis.