Miner, a gay trans man, deals with diverse masculinities in his art. Topics range from bodily shame to back hair portraits to a comparative study of animal penises.
November 14 2014 5:00 AM EST
November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST
xtyfr
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A.B. Miner's paintings and drawings take things that are usually hidden from public view and make them "bring to light." Some of the works now at Gallery Kayafas employ self-portraiture to spark dialogue over the gendered body. The self-portraits are intimate in scale and content, they are conceptually and emotionally charged, and they expose vulnerability by revealing what he (and many people) hide from the outside world -- inner turmoil and body irregularities.
Miner, a trans man, is frustrated with contemporary Western society's binary views of gender based on "average" male and "average" female bodies, leading him to research how masculinity manifests in other species. Before his move to Boston, Miner discovered and photographed an undocumented, offsite collection of the National Museum of Natural History, simply labeled "Smithsonian Institution Penis Collection." Two series evolved from Miner's research in these natural history museum collections.
Miner is now the assistant curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A.B. Miner: "Bringing to Light"
Gallery Kayafas
Through November 29, 2014
450 Harrison Avenue #37
Boston, MA 02118
Singing Silence (Mystery I - IV), oil on linen on wood, 8.5" w x 11" h, 2014 (frames with translucent plexi are part of work)
Unveiled 2, 16" h x 20" w, oil on gessobord, 2012
Downs and Up diptych, panels 8" h x 16" w, oil on gessobord, 2013
His (2), 20" h x 16" w, oil on gessobord, 2014