Exhibition: Us by Jo Birdsell | 32-16-8 Moabiter Kiezkneipe

„Us“ is a queer portraiture series that utilizes the archive to simultaneously learn from queer pasts and imagine queer futures. Through archival photo recreations, Us draws a direct line from queer ancestry to the struggles and joys of modern queer people. The series asks how the lives, struggles and identities of the queer community have changed over time. What does queerness look like today? And how can we learn from our histories to create a more beautiful, more equitable queer future?

 

About the Artist

Jo Birdsell’s work deals with issues of queer and feminine liberation, life and sobriety in subculture, and rest and recovery in the face of trauma. Their work draws from their personal experiences as a queer, former substance-user in recovery. But it also draws heavily from research. Jo is a former journalist and a current sociologist, with a BA in sociology from The Ohio State University. Their work in journalism and sociology allows them to create work that speaks not only to their own experiences, but to those trends that reach beyond them. Through their work, Birdsell aims to dismantle queer and recovery stigma and speak truth to power.