Image above: © Chris Berntsen, Frances Before Twilight, San Francisco, 2014. / courtesy of Gulf Western Gallery
Image Above: © Sang Ha Park
TWILIGHT CHILDREN
Inspired by the people around him and by the need to share in the creation of images that reflect that experience, Chris Berntsen’s new series, Twilight Children, is a moving and powerful photo presentation of people examining and analyzing their spiritual and physical capacities within social frontiers of sexuality, gender, space, and time.
Image above: © Chris Berntsen / courtesy of Gulf Western Gallery
“Twilight Children is centered within queer communities in the United States”, explained Berntsen. “The images, often taken in everyday moments, are fragments of intimacy, desire, and collaboration. The exhibition brings together images of people and places that share a spirit of self-exploration and understanding of temporarily. These are the children, the beings that define themselves and the in-between boundaries of time, space, gender, and sexuality in an era situated on the precipice of a linear past and an uncertain future."
Referring to a person’s inner sense of self, Berntsen plays with self-identification and stereotypes about gender roles imposed by society. Sexuality and gender issues affect all people, whether they are male, female, or someone who does not fit elegantly into either of those categories. Twilight Children encourages us to question common assumptions about ourselves, our role, the temporarily of our existence, and the possibilities beyond the binaries of male and female.
Image Above: © Sang Ha Park
Chris Berntsen is the 10th recipient of the Department’s Tierney Fellowship (2014). The primary goal of the Fellowship is to find aspiring artists who will be tomorrow’s leaders and assist them in overcoming challenges that photographers face at the start of their careers.
The show runs through January 16, 2016 at Gulf + Western Gallery.
