Del lagrace volcano biography of michael

Del LaGrace Volcano

Artist and activist

Del LaGrace Volcano

Born () July 26, (age&#;67)

California, United States

Occupation(s)Photographer, activist
Website

Del LaGrace Volcano (born July 26, ) is an American artist, actor, and activist from California.

A formally trained photographer, Volcano's operate includes installation, performance and production and interrogates the performance of gender on several levels, especially the performance of masculinity and femininity.

Identity

Born intersex, Volcano developed both male and female characteristics as an adolescent but was raised and socialized as female.[1][2] Volcano continued to live the first 37 years of their life as a woman, but since then has been living as both male and female.

Del LaGrace Volcano (formerly named Della Grace) continues to adopt their true self through their name and gender. After marrying a queer man, Johnny Volcano, Del took on their current name to challenge the "bi-gendered status quo." Johnny has now changed his name while Del kept the surname and passed it on to their two children.

Del has been in a partnership with the children's mother, Matilda Wurm since [3] to which Del refers to themself as a "MaPa".[4]

Education

Prior to moving to San Francisco when they were nineteen,[5] Volcano attended Allan Hancock College as a student in the Visual Studies program from to [6] Volcano earned an MA in Photographic Studies at University of Derby, UK in after studying photography at the San Francisco Art Institute from to

Life and career

Volcano's work complicates understandings of both femininity and masculinity by depicting lesbian masculinity.

In "The Feminine Principle" Volcano takes lgbtq+ femininities as a focus; including in this project is a portrait of Kate Bornstein. In "Lesbian Boyz and Other Inverts," Volcano's celebration of butch dykes, transsexual boys and other gender-queers.

In the project, masculinity is shown as a tool of subversion.[7]

Volcano's recent photographs demonstrate how intersex bodies can offer an entirely new perspective on the body. The “normal” body in relation to Volcano's photographs becomes queer, describing the bodies in their latest works as "sites of mutation, loss, and longing." In these newer works, Volcano takes on the loss of their friend, Kathy Acker and the transformation of their companion Simo Maronati's abled body into a disabled one.

Here, Volcano illustrates the queerness of any body marked by illness or trauma. Their self-portrait "INTER*me" photograph series (formally the "Herm Body" series)[8] is a raw rendition of the artist's body using black and white Polaroid clip, in conversation with their previous work it speaks to the construction of different age-selves and the technologies of gender in photography.[9]

Volcano's artist statement of September reads:

As a gender variant visual artist I access 'technologies of gender' in order to amplify rather than erase the hermaphroditic traces of my body.

I name myself. A gender abolitionist. A part time gender terrorist and an intentional mutation My journey must be distinguished from the thousands of intersex individuals who have had their 'ambiguous' bodies mutilated and disfigured in a misguided attempt at "normalization".

Even the gay compress shunned it. I was born making trouble. Not just gender trouble, but all kinds. I was five when the cops first brought me home, picked up for selling red rocks from Mars to the local human inhabitants.

I believe in crossing the line, not just once, but as many times as it takes to develop a bridge we can all walk across.[10]

Volcano also explores themes of both sexual and gender fluidity throughout their work.

Volcano often depicts the instability of gender identity, by pushing past the binary gender system, and frequently uses their queerness in their work to contest the idea of sexual identity as something that is permanently embodied.[11] As shown in Volcano's photography book, "Love Bites", Volcano presents various images of women at sexual play, dressed "in costumes ranging from brides to queer leather men".[12] Volcano, in this way, seems to aim at defying conventional gender norms and feminist principles within their chat.

In Teddy Boy David, Volcano further pushes this agenda and toys with the idea of age dynamics and, mainly, youthfulness in terms of sexuality and sexual play.[13]

Publications

Publications by Volcano

Love Bites, as Della Grace, published by Gay Men's Press, London, "In the USA it was banned by Customs & Excise for two weeks.

In Canada they cut the most "offensive" photographs out of the book before selling it. In England it was sold by mainstream booksellers but not in lesbian or gay bookshops who protested they couldn't take the risk or disagreed with the SM content."[14][15][16] Specifically, Silver Moon women's bookshop in London supported the function, but were concerned about existence prosecuted, whilst Sisterwrite refused to sell the book because of its SM content.[17]

The Drag King Book, co-authored with Judith "Jack" Halberstam, published by Serpent's Tail, The Drag King Book focusses on the drag kings of London, San Francisco, and Unused York.

Volcano, in the book's forward, describes their first exposure with a drag king operate, which took place in San Francisco in when "the On Our Backs/ BurLEZK gang were putting on strip shows for lesbians at The Baybrick Inn."[18][19][20]

Sublime Mutations, published by Konkursbuch, "Sublime Mutations, a photographic retrospective of Del LaGrace Volcano's work produced over the course of the last ten years, visually remaps the political and theoretical cutting edge of the queer avant garde."[21] In Jay Prossler's introduction, Prossler claims that through LaGrace Volcano's work "we see the changing shape of our bodies and our communities reflected".

A formally trained photographer, Volcano's perform includes installation, performance and production and interrogates the performance of gender on several levels, especially the performance of masculinity and femininity. Born intersexVolcano developed both male and female characteristics as an adolescent but was raised and socialized as female. Del LaGrace Volcano formerly named Della Grace continues to adopt their true self through their label and gender. After marrying a queer man, Johnny Volcano, Del took on their current identify to challenge the "bi-gendered status quo.

Importantly however, we also glimpse the changes promised by our was of seeing, the mutations we read as successfully as those that are visited upon our bodies. LaGrace Volcano skillfully demonstrates that sublime mutations are always already the transformations that viewers project on the physical world, and especially on the body.[22][23]

Sex Works –, also containing an essay by Paul Preciado.

Published by Konkursbuch, Sex Works shows a history of sex in the queer scene.[23][24]

Publications with contributions by Volcano

A contribution to Queer Theory, edited by Iain Morland and Dino Willox, published in The book presents fifteen articles on sexuality, gender studies and other aspects of queer studies.

Other contributors comprise Judith Butler, Patrick Califia, Cheryl Chase, Larry Kramer, and Stephen Whittle.

About Face: Stonewall, Revolt, and New Queer Art | DailyArt ...: Del LaGrace Volcano (born July 26, ) is an American artist, performer, and activist from California. A formally trained photographer, Volcano's work includes installation, performance and film and interrogates the performance of gender on several levels, especially the performance of masculinity and femininity.

A contribution to Inter: Erfahrungen intergeschlechtlicher Menschen in der Welt der zwei Geschlechter, edited by Elisa Barth, in Other contributors include Mauro Cabral, Sally Gross, and Phoebe Hart.

Femmes of Power&#;: Exploding Queer Feminities, co-authored with Ulrika Dahl.

Published by Serpent's Tail in [25][26]

A contribution to Intersex and After, an issue of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies edited by Iain Morland in Other contributors include Alice Dreger, Iain Morland, and Vernon Rosario.[27]

Volcano's photography featured in the sex-positive lesbian erotica publication Quim magazine, published in the UK between and [28]

Exhibitions

[29][30][31][32]

Solo exhibitions

  • Reterospective: Del LaGrace, Magazin 4, Bregenz, Austria, September
  • A Kingdome Comes, Standpoint Gallery, London, July
  • Fluid Fire, Galleri Format, Malmö, Sweden, December
  • One Man?

    Show, Babele Gallery, Milan, Italy, April

  • Gerkhe's Artists, Hamburg Erotic Art Museum,
  • Fluid Fire, Format Gallery, Malmo,
  • Venus Boyz, Zita, Folkets Bio, Stockholm, Sweden, May
  • Pas de Regrets, â la Galerie du Forum des images, France, November
  • Intersex The Two Gender System as a Human Rights Abuse, NGBK gallery, Berlin, Germany, June
  • Corpus Queer: bodies in resistance, Transpalette, Emmetrop, Bourges, France September [33]
  • Mid-career retrospective, Leslie Lohman Museum, [34]

Group exhibitions

  • Street Style, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, June,
  • Desire, Nordic Arts Centre, Helsinki, Finland; Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden; Louisiana, Humlebœk, Denmark; –97
  • Duke: King of the Hill, Courtauld Galleries, London, November –
  • Encounters of the Third Kind, Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands, August
  • Sex Mutant, The Nunnery, London, August
  • Fallen Heroes: Masculinity & Representation, Espai D'Art Contemporani de Castello, CastÉleon, Spain, April
  • Female Turbulence, Aeroplastics Gallery, Brussels, Belgium, October
  • A Raise in the Shell, Aeroplastics Gallery Brussels, Belgium, May
  • Women in Revolt!

    Art and Activism in the UK –, Tate Britain, November – April [35][36]

Television and film work

Volcano appeared in Gabriel Baur's film, Venus Boyz.[37]

References

  1. ^Siddons, Interview by Edward ().

    "Del LaGrace Volcano's best photograph: my cobalt mascara masculinity".

    The dissection of gender has long remained a complex issue. As tradition gender roles are eradicated through fresh, fresh outlooks on how a person can choose to "do" their gender allow an unlimited form of expression. In a new documentary produced by Vicethe complicated relationship between people and their gender is explored. The short film, "Raised Without Gender," follows the day-to-day life of one gender non-conforming family living in Sweden.

    The Guardian. ISSN&#; Retrieved

  2. ^"Here's LaGrace!". QX Magazine. Retrieved
  3. ^"MaPa Del | Del LaGrace Volcano". . Archived from the original on Retrieved
  4. ^"Del LaGrace Volcano".

    The Emergence of 'Trans'. Retrieved

  5. ^Volcano, Del LaGrace (). The Drag King Book. Blackstock Mews, London: Serpent's Tail. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  6. ^Wilton, Tamsin.

    glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Pansexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. Chicago: glbtq, inc, "Grace, Della"

  7. ^O’Riordan, Kate (), "Transgender Activism and the Net", Global Activism, Global Media, Pluto Press, pp.&#;–, doi/4qr, ISBN&#;
  8. ^Steinbock, Eliza ().

    "Generative Negatives Del LaGrace Volcano's Herm Body Photographs". TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. 1 (4): – doi/ ISSN&#;

  9. ^Volcano, Del LaGrace; Prosser, Jay; Steinbock, Eliza (). Horlacher, Stefan (ed.).

    Transgender and Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and Artistic Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp.&#;– doi/_8. ISBN&#;.

  10. ^"Artist's StatementArchived at the Wayback Machine". Del LaGrace Volcano official website.
  11. ^Halberstam, J.

    Jack (). In a Queer Period and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. USA: NYU Press. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

  12. ^Reed, Christopher (). Art and Homosexuality: A History of Ideas. USA: Oxford University Press. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;.
  13. ^Levine, JJ (April ).

    "Whipping the Binary". Photography and Culture. 7 (3): doi/X S2CID&#;

  14. ^"Publications[permanent deceased link&#;]". Del LaGrace Volcano official website.
  15. ^Gabb, Jacqui (November ).

    "Marginal differences? An analysis of the imag(in)ed bodies of Del LaGrace". Journal of Gender Studies. 7 (3): – doi/ ISSN&#;

  16. ^Corinne, Tee A. (). "How Lesbian Artists Support Their Art". Journal of Lesbian Studies.

    5 (3): 43– doi/jv05n03_ ISSN&#; PMID&#; S2CID&#;

  17. ^Smith, Anna Marie (). "Outlaws as Legislators: Feminist Anti-Censorship Politics and Lgbtq+ Activism". Pleasure Principles. Lawrence and Wishart.
  18. ^Villiers, Nicholas de ().

    "Review of Queer Archives in a Queer Time and Place: Non-binary Bodies, Subcultural Lives". Cultural Critique (66): – ISSN&#; JSTOR&#;

  19. ^Surkan, Kim ().

    Born and raised in California, Volcano moved to the UK in the early s, later producing the book, Devote Bites, collaborating with partygoers at “queer dyke sex-performance club”, Chain Reaction. Even the gay squeeze shunned it.

    "Drag Kings in the New Wave". Journal of Homosexuality. 43 (3–4): – doi/jv43n03_ ISSN&#; PMID&#; S2CID&#;

  20. ^Bianchi, June (). "More than a Body's Work: Widening Cultural Participation through an International Exploration of Young People's Construction of Visual Image and Identity".

    International Journal of Art & Design Education. 27 (3): – doi/jx. ISSN&#;

  21. ^McLeod Allegra (December 21, ). "Sublime MutationsArchived at the Wayback Machine", GaydarNation.
  22. ^Stryker, Susan ().

    Stryker, Susan; Whittle, Stephen (eds.). The Transgender Studies Reader. doi/ ISBN&#;.

  23. ^ abSteinbock, E. (). "Generative Negatives: Del LaGrace Volcano's Herm Body Photographs".

    TSQ: Trans person Studies Quarterly. 1 (4): – doi/ ISSN&#;

  24. ^"Tim Stüttgen: Post Porn Loss: Precarious Intellect. Notizen zum Ausgesetztsein", Interdisziplinäres Kolloquium zur Geschlechterforschung II, Peter Lang, , doi//20, ISBN&#;
  25. ^de Jong, Wilma; Shaw, Martin; Stammers, Neil, eds.

    Del LaGrace Volcano, a distinctive presence in About Face, emerges as both the creator and embodiment of a compelling artistic narrative. Born intersex, Volcano defies gender binary by embracing a fluid “both/and” identity.

    (). Global Activism, Global Media. Pluto Press. doi/4qr. ISBN&#;.

  26. ^Gorrell, Michael Gorrell (). "E-books on EBSCOhost: Combining NetLibrary E-books with the EBSCOhost Platform". Information Standards Quarterly.

    23 (2): doi/isqv23n ISSN&#;

  27. ^Creighton, S. M.; Greenberg, J. A.; Roen, K.; Volcano, D. L. (). "Intersex Practice, Theory, and Activism: A Roundtable Discussion". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies.

    15 (2): – doi/ S2CID&#;

  28. ^Gibson, Linda (25 October ). "Quim's on show". The Pink Paper.
  29. ^Volcano, Del LaGrace; Windh, Indra (), "GenderFusion", Queer Theory, Macmillan Education UK, pp.&#;–, doi/_11, ISBN&#;
  30. ^Lapina ().

    "Lesbian Lives in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia: Post/Socialism and Gendered Sexualities". QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking. 3 (3): – doi/qed ISSN&#; S2CID&#;

  31. ^"American Photographer Del LaGrace Volcano – Intersex Campaign for Equality".

    Retrieved

  32. ^"Del LaGrace Volcano | 4 Exhibitions and Events". . Retrieved
  33. ^"Del LaGrace Volcano: Corpus Queer: Bodies of Resistance –". MoCA Skopje.

    Archived from the unique on Retrieved

  34. ^"DEL LaGRACE VOLCANE: A Mid-Career Retrospective". Leslie-Lohman Museum.

    Photographer Jul 26 United States. Prior to moving to San Francisco when they were nineteen, Volcano attended Allan Hancock College as a student in the Visual Studies program from Del LaGrace Volcano continues to further adopt their true self through their gender as well as their name. Sex Worksalso containing an essay by Beatriz Preciado.

    Archived from the original on Retrieved

  35. ^Shurvell, Joanne. "Women In Revolt: Tate Britain's Landmark Feminist Art Exhibition". Forbes. Retrieved
  36. ^Dazed (). "Inside the Tate's major new survey of British feminist art".

    Dazed. Retrieved

  37. ^The Advocate, 2 Sep The Advocate, p. 55, at Google Books

External links