Faggoting | Daniel Fountain

____________________________________.

I first learnt about Daniel Lismore's work at an artist talk that Daniel Fountain did regarding the exhibition 'Be yourself everyone else is taken' at the Herbert Gallery in Coventry.

This was the first outside artist talk that.I had gone to, especially one not being hosted by the artist themselves. I found Fountain's way of speaking about queer art incredibly captivating and made me consider queer radicalism in a way that I hadn't before.

Fountain's work is largely textiles based as he uses textiles to subvert gender and sexuality in direct opposition to the way that we are taught to think about them. Before seeing this talk I had never considered integrating this into my own practice however, they presented it in such a way that seemed accessible.

The undertaking of such a traditionally "feminine" task as sewing by a male presenting person further works to subvert gender roles and expectations. Sewing can become monotonous but it is within the mundane that we can find a community through which to heal.

Faggoting, 2019

Daniel Fountain

https://www.danielfountain.com/faggoting

I also like the way that his work often uses found objects in a way that you wouldn't expect. One of my favourite examples of this is his work Faggots.

By using found and ready-made objects, Fountain is able to play with bodily forms in a way that may not be seen as as acceptable to the consumer if it falls outside the male gaze/patriarchal lens.

Faggoting, 2019

Daniel Fountain

https://www.instagram.com/danielfountainart/

This piece and pieces similar in construction and aesthetic invoke an almost uncanny valley-like experience when looked at for too long. I found a kinship between this sense of almost-but-not-quite fitting in and the queer community that became tangible through Fountain's use of colour, medium, and practice.