Press Release
Cutting edge exhibition traces gay lives since law reform
A new exhibition by a Wellington artist uses photographs and oral histories to tell the stories of queer men born since
gay sex was legalised in New Zealand almost 30 years ago.
Mark Beehre’s exhibition, A Queer Existence, runs at Photospace Gallery in Wellington’s Courtenay Place from 10 April to 4 May.
Mark says gay men growing up since Parliament passed the Homosexual Law Reform Act in 1986 have had different life
experiences from those who went before them.
“Before that moment, sex between men was illegal and punishable by imprisonment. Family and social pressures forced most
gay men to live their lives in the closet,” Mark says.
“Law Reform serves as a symbolic turning point when the widespread social condemnation of homosexuality was gradually
replaced by increasing acceptance, exemplified by the Civil Union Act in 2005 and then, in 2013, Marriage
Equality—finally granting legal recognition to same-sex relationships.
“Along with that came the ever-more-prolific dissemination of ‘gay identity’ as the means by which men experiencing
same-sex desire constructed their identity.”
While younger gay men know who they are and can find a place in society their lives are not always easy, says Mark.
“‘That’s so gay!’ has become a widespread expression of low-level derision, and coming out still takes courage and
strength. Some schools and families are supportive of queer identities, but in these and other social institutions
intolerance often still lurks beneath the surface—even when homophobia, like racism, is outwardly acknowledged as
socially unacceptable.”
Mark says A Queer Existence sets out to document the stories, visual appearances and subjective experiences of some of gay men growing up since Law
Reform. He hopes to eventually publish the work as a book.
“However, in the exhibition the large scale of the one-metre-square photographic prints gives the images an immediacy
and impact that cannot be experienced in smaller reproductions. The photographs are accompanied by a soundtrack drawn
from excerpts from the interview, allowing the sitters’ own voices to be heard in the gallery space and immersing the
viewer in the experiences they narrate.”
Background
Mark Beehre trained as a medical specialist, working for several years in medical practice before studying photography
at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland and Massey University in Wellington. His work has been exhibited in New
Zealand and overseas and in 2014 he was awarded a Master of Fine Arts from Auckland University for the preliminary
stages of A Queer Existence.
Mark’s work sits at the intersection of documentary, portraiture and social history, and touches on questions of
identity, sexuality and the lifelong quest for intimacy. His photographic portraits are often accompanied by
first-person narratives drawn from extended interviews with the people he photographs, and this element of oral history
opens a unique window into the world of their individual subjective experience. This was the case in his earlier work Men Alone—Men Together (published in 2010), a major project exploring the lives and relationships of a group of mostly older gay men who had
grown up in the era prior to Law Reform.
A Queer Existence opens at Photospace Gallery, 1st floor, 37 Courtenay Place, on Friday 10 May and runs until Monday 4 April. The gallery
is open 10—4 Monday to Friday, 11—4 Saturday, closed Sundays.
For more information visit www.markbeehre.co.nz or www.photospacegallery.com.