Greg Climer

Greg Climer

Animated Quilts, Nathan and Bryan


October 26, 2023 – December 23, 2023

This piece captures a brief moment of affection between two of my friends, Nathan and Bryan. Over the course of five years, this brief moment was translated into 36 quilts which then became the frames for an animated loop.

With this piece, I was exploring how time could impact the legibility of the images on the quilt. Individually, the quilts are not clear representations. Through persistence of vision (the phenomenon which allows flickering images of animations and film to appear seamless in our mind), the images become clearer.

Because this work was an exploration of time through craft, I wanted to explore time in relationships. Capturing a single moment of affection, a fleeting moment which might have been forgotten, has elevated that moment. These tender moments are sometimes the most important moments in relationships.

Immortalizing this moment is important to me because queer relationships so often take on political and cultural meaning beyond those of their straight counterparts. Yet, at its core, a relationship is love.

Quilts are so often used as metaphors for relationships, family, and love. A patchwork of memories, moments, and emotions that come together to create something greater than their parts. Quilts are heirlooms, a powerful talisman which implies the existence of heirs. By quilting portraits of queer men, I am manifesting a future which did not exist when I was a young man. A future in which queer men do have heirs.

Presented by Forward Arts Foundation

Bio

Greg Climer

Greg Climer’s textile work has been shown in the Museum of Art and Design (NYC), The Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art (NYC), The DeYoung Museum (San Francisco, CA), The Mint Museum of Art (Charlotte, NC), The Museum of Craft and Design (San Francisco, CA), the International Fibre Art Triennial 2019, and many galleries.

In addition to working as an artist, he also works as a fashion designer. He has worked on the design teams for Victoria’s Secret Runway Show, Karl Lagerfeld, Imitation of Christ, John Bartlett, and on many broadway shows and movies. After 13 years on the faculty at Parsons School of Design, he relocated to San Francisco to join the faculty of California College of the Arts.

IG: gregoryclimer

Location

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