Burials: Photography by Sean M. Johnson

Please join us for the opening reception of Burials by Sean M. Johnson. Free to the public, food and beverage will be served. Street Parking Available Bus: 4 or 70 Max: Orange Line to Clinton/SE 12th Ave Artist Statement: www.seanMjohnson.com One of the most significant and sacred rituals shared across cultures is the preparation of the dead to journey from this world to the next. A burial is a common expression of this practice. Depending on the custom, bodies may be adorned, cleansed, safeguarded, or otherwise meticulously prepared for the transition to the afterlife, which is often idealized as a new existence of abundant bliss or spiritual fulfillment. Individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ are members of a global community that is marginalized or condemned in many cultures and religions. In response to this pervasive social disparagement, many people who are queer develop extensive fantasy worlds in which they can exist in a peace and form of their own making. Artist Sean M. Johnson seeks to create a dialogue that explores these individual ideologies of desire, loss, liminality, release, and hope through the expression of queer fantasy. His focus on the burial ritual creates space for the models’ idealized worlds and the selves they could be without the stigmas placed on queer people in the world outside the photograph. Each piece was created in a collaboration between the artist and his subjects, who are all LGBTQIA+ identified artists themselves. The images are grounded in the personal visions of those pictured, and while the metaphor of the burial may invoke morbidity and solemnity, the portraits are equally celebratory and unifying. These realms are intimate explorations of selfhood, and for the artist, Burials is a way to contemplate the desire to become in our imaginations what we cannot be or obtain in our everyday lives. This series of Burials is generously funded by a project grant from the Regional Arts & Cultural Council. Artist Bio Sean M. Johnson is an interdisciplinary artist based in Portland, Oregon. His work has been exhibited in Berlin, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, and Houston, and has been featured in various books and publications including Frieze, Pref Mag, and Mascular Magazine. He holds an MFA in Visual Critical Studies from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and has taught and lectured at multiple institutions, including UMASS Boston, NYU, The Museum School, Lesley, and Boston Architectural College.