IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Art by Rasheem Announces the “s/He Handsome” Art Exhibition

Friday, February 8^th at 6pm

s/He Handsome, is a mixed media series that takes an intersectional (Crenshaw, 1989) approach to decolonizing figurative beauty by centering the images of persons assigned female at birth that identify as masculine of center.

Masculine of center (MoC) is a term, coined by B. Cole of the Brown Boi Project, that recognizes the breadth and depth of identity for lesbian/queer/ womyn who tilt toward the masculine side of the gender scale and includes a wide range of identities such as butch, stud, aggressive/AG, dom, macha, tomboi, trans.

This series can best be described as a cultural critique that interrogates the definitions of masculinity as exclusively the domain of persons assigned male at birth. The figures in this body of work are saying, “I’m not trying to be noticed, but I refuse to be ignored.” The images are a conversation between external recognition and the agency of self-identification. Through Black liberation and queer aesthetic practices these folks of color reimaging masculinity in their own image.

What: s/He Handsome Art Exhibition

When: Friday February, 8^th at 6pm

Where: Jubilee Arts, 1947 Pennsylvania Ave

Who: This exhibition is open and FREE to the public

About the Artist

1. Rasheem (known for saying just call me Rasheem) is a self-taught mixed-media artist. Her primary medium is pastel. Rasheem is a Womanist Artist whose art encourages a critical examination of society and culture through the lens of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Her work centralizes the lives and experiences of marginalized populations. Rasheem’s work contributes to the growing body of art that is dedicated to the expression and celebration of gender. Her influences are interdisciplinary, varied, and largely come from lived-experiences. There is no separation between her passions, her politics, and her artistic expression. Much like her politics her mediums are a combination of precision and messiness.