- Venue
- Gasworks
- Location
- London
Francesc Ruiz was one of Gasworks artists in residence for a period of 3 months. His new exhibition, Gasworks Yaoi is the culmination of this residency, inspired by the gay subculture in the area of Vauxhall, where the gallery is set.
Do not be surprised if, on entering the gallery, you mistake it for an underground Soho-style soft-porn library – this is exactly what the artist had in mind.
It is an interesting response to the psychology of the area. The title, Yaoi (from the Japanese meaning “boys love”) is the name of a manga genre depicting homoerotic narratives. The interesting part is that they are normally produced and consumed by women.
Thus we enter the space and are led to believe that the comics were produced by amateur female illustrators. The comic books are identical in content, however each one features a different cover, it’s own price tag (all at £1) and a sticker that denotes the type of Yaoi comic – based on these the stories can be platonic and romantic, carnal, hardcore, or involving alcohol and drugs.
At first hand, the exhibition questions issues of authorship and fiction, as we question the existence of these female writers. Secondly, he brings into play relational aesthetics by opening a space of interaction that points out the area’s gay subculture and perhaps successfully engages different audiences. Finally, he is more obviously questioning the use of stereotypes and cliches about sexuality. The exhibition is also fun and interesting. As spectators will discover, you can spend endless hours looking at the mostly funny and brightly coloured covers of the comics hung on the walls, then spend another hour going through the comics arranged in boxes which nostalgically remind us of old record shops.
However, this would be an incomplete review. The most interesting part of this exhibition is the distribution of the art form through the comics. In his essay Dispersion, Seth Price asks what would happen if the art work was dispersed and reproduced, it’s value approaching zero as its accessibility rises. If collective experience is today a simultaneity of private experiences that has all to do with reproduction and distribution and little to do with physical presence, then Ruiz’s public exhibition is very successful. As the comics are bought to be consumed outside the gallery, the value of the work hasn’t yet reached zero but it is currently set at a very affordable £1.00.
