Art Forum: Luke Thurgate – Adore You

Wednesday 8 March
1 – 2pm
Cell Block Theatre

Join us as Luke Thurgate speaks through his latest exhibition Adore You.

Luke is currently completing a large-scale wall drawing as part of the National Art School’s Queer Contemporary program. Luke’s multi-disciplinary studio practice explores the construction and deconstruction of ‘identity’ in relation to masculinity, sexuality, romance and power. His current work uses the monster as a surrogate ’other’ to explore tensions between parody, sincerity, menace, pathos, transgression, and vulnerability. Luke’s work borrows from a range of sources, including popular culture, Catholic iconography, and queer historical archives.

Adore You takes inspiration from one of the world’s treasures, the major, 15th Century polyptych Ghent Altarpiece created by painters and brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyk. Thurgate’s work Adore You transforms the altarpiece format to create a contemporary, ephemeral artwork exploring notions of desire, hero-worship and queer subjectivity. Spanning three walls of The Drawing Gallery, the mural will be made onsite over a six-week period to coincide with Sydney WorldPride programs at the National Art School.

Photo: Peter Morgan.