[spectre] The Rubber Rose Gallery Announces XX Boys in November and New Curators

[lotu5]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Rubber Rose Gallery Announces XX Boys in November and New Curators

WHO: The Rubber Rose
WHERE: 3812 Ray St, San Diego, CA 92104

CONTACT: Rebeca L Rodriguez, 619.296.7009
          Micha Cardenas, 619-750-8851
          The Rubber Rose, 619-296-7673
         www.therubberrose.com

WHEN: Photo Exhibition by Kael T. Block on display from: 11/10/07 to 		 
      11/30/07
       Closing Party of "XXBoys" - Friday, November 30th from 7 to 9pm

The Rubber Rose is pleased to announce their November exhibition of XX
Boys, a project of Kael T. Block, in honor of National Transgender Day
of Remembrance, which is observed on November 20th. The show marks the
Rubber Rose Gallery's first collaboration with an international artist,
Kael T. Block who is based out of Paris, France. National Transgender
Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed 
due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in 
November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998, 
kicked off the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San Francisco 
candlelight vigil in 1999. This is the second year in a row that The 
Rubber Rose has hosted an event in honor of National Transgender Day of 
Remembrance.  There will be a closing event for the XX Boys show on 
Friday, November 30th from 7 to 9 PM at The Rubber Rose, everyone is 
welcome.

 From Kael T Block's bio:

"Kael T Block was working toward his Masters in Visual Communication and
Graphic  Design at Creapole (Paris). He stopped in 2005 to completely
engage himself in his political and artistic project XXBOYS, which aims
not only to document a younger generation of trans FtM in its great
diversity, but also to give his community sexy and positive
representation. Throughout his travels an international community of
transboys started to grow, as he captured the images and emotions of
FtMs across the globe.

Kael T. Block started by taking pictures of himself. This work of
himself is a crucial part of his transition, to distance his image, in
order to see himself change, trans form, construct, to build an
empowered self image and identity, refracted by the  numerous images
which corresponded to his desire. This photographical experience as a
tool for identity construction and the desire to see images of transguys
out of the medical and documentary context led him to start the XX BOYS
project, and  to travel meeting other young trans in order to produce
images saturated with signs and colors, seductive pictures of a proud
and transgressive young trans generation. Block strives to depict FtMs
as sexy, to give his community alternative referential images. These
images carry an identity claim - Trans is sexy - and choose seduction as
the principal political weapon. It is his idea of Beauty that is at work
here.

If some of the boys photographed have a beauty that corresponds to the
criteria  established by Hollywood or fashion, others have a beauty that
comes from more eccentric mixes, asserted style and gender ambiguity.
Block's pictures play with this plurality. Most of the pictures are in
vibrant color with violent contrasts; making a celebration out of each
image; of the person photographed, of his body, of the moment shared  by
the photographer and the model. Kael T. Block's work creates new icons.
Immersed in the Image's contemporary culture of advertising images,
fashion, rock star pictures and their fans. Starting from his identity
and that of his community, Block too creates icons that can be
appropriated and taken as a model by trans and queers. These images are
to serve as a base from which to build a strong self-image.

Block's work is reminiscent of early 80's New York artists such as
Goldin, Wojnarovic, and O'Sullivan. It too is a journey into a peculiar
territory, populated with the marginalized, which is to say those forced
to choose their own freedom. It's not only about transgenderism or
homosexuality. Block's work, as that of his New York predecessors, is
not only documentarian. The marginality that forces us to constantly
invent ourselves- invent our lives, our bodies, our attitudes, our
pleasures- shows itself and directs itself in these images."

In addition, The Rubber Rose is pleased to announce its new curator
Rebeca L. Rodriguez and new assistant curator, Micha Cárdenas. Look for 
shows curated by the two in 2008.

Rebeca L. Rodriguez is a community activist and artist. Rebeca's
community activism includes work with Austin Indymedia, San Diego
Indymedia, Colectivo Zapatista and Ballet Folklorico en Aztlan. She has
experience working with and supporting many art and cultural spaces here
in San Diego, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. She has preformed at
the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, The Esperanza for Peace and Justice
Center, Our Lady of the Lake University, The University of Texas at
Austin and Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park.

Micha Cárdenas is an MFA candidate at the University of California San
Diego and an MA candidate in Media and Communications at the European
Graduate School. Micha's studies bring to the Rubber Rose Gallery an
understanding of and experience with the latest developments in
contemporary art. Micha is a founding member of a number of art/activism
collectives including Sharing is Sexy.org and the borderlands Hacklab.
Micha's video and performance work has been shown at community spaces
around the world including the Marcuse Gallery at UCSD, the Steinmatte
at the European Graduate School, the Rubber Rose, Artivistic 2007 in
Montreal, freEtech 2007, the Casa de Iniciativas in Málaga, Spain, the
Americas Social Forum in Quito, Ecuador, the Seoul Human Rights festival
as well as on Free Speech TV and Paper Tiger TV.

The Rubber Rose is a space where healthy and joyous exploration of sex
and sexuality is encouraged and embraced, facilitating the development
of a stronger, safer, and more educated sex positive community.

More info about the Rubber Rose:
http://therubberrose.com

More info about the National Transgender Day of Rememberance:
http://www.lgbtcampus.org/faq/transgender_DOR.htm
http://www.gender.org/remember/day/what.html
http://www.gender.org/remember/day/how.html

More info about XX Boys:
http://xxboys.20six.fr

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