Reception — By Our Nature
“Photographing myself became a refusal to disappear.” – Jo Birdsell
In By Our Nature, Jo Birdsell navigates the changing political reality for queer people in the United States. As both land and body become sites of major political suppression, Birdsell relates to their own queerness by planting themselves firmly in the landscape of the rural United States.
Beginning in Birdsell’s hometown and the surrounding rural landscape of the Appalachian
region, Birdsell’s photographs capture the interplay between vulnerable identities and vulnerable locations. Through travel across the “Amerikan” West and Southwest, By Our Nature expanded, cementing itself firmly in the post-documentary canon. The photographs in this series play with color, form, and location. They seek to capture intimate moments of daily, queer life, while drawing on principles of classical portrait photography and queer archival lineages.
Through this showing of By Our Nature, Birdsell invites other artists—Anton Bou, Taylor Nice, Coyote Park, and Lauren Buck Withrow—to share their unique perspectives on queerness. Together, the artists work to naturalize queerness and assert queer people’s right to take up space, asking the audience to consider what’s next, both from queer Amerikans and for Amerikan nature.
Reception: Friday, August 21, 4:00–5:30 PM at Hopkins Hall Gallery
Music Performance: September 3, 6–8 PM at Hopkins Hall Gallery, featuring Clever Space Plants, DJ Samir, Leo Vance, and Moe Reen
Reading Event: September 16, 6–8 PM at Hopkins Hall Gallery, featuring Ruth Awad, Connor Beeman, Misha Ponnuraju, and Mandy Shunnarah
Participating Artists: Jo Birdsell, Anton Bou, Taylor Nice, Coyote Park, and Lauren Buck Withrow
Visiting Hopkins Hall Gallery
128 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210
Hours of operation
Monday–Friday: 11 AM–4 PM