Thursday 18 January 2024
1 - 2.30pm
Talks Theatre, Business Design Centre, Islington
Chair
Gemma Rolls-Bentley – Platform 2024 Curator
A panel chaired by Platform’s 2024 guest curator Gemma Rolls-Bentley whose exhibition includes some of the most exciting queer artists, from major names like David Hockney to rising stars Olivia Strange and Nooka Shepherd. Gemma will be joined by Ell Pennick, Director, Guts Gallery, Ashley Joiner, Director QUEERCIRCLE, Robert Taylor, artist and Trustee, Queer Britain, and E-J Scott, founder of The Museum of Transology as they discuss how to support and celebrate queer artists at a time when LGBTQIA+ life is increasingly under threat in the UK and globally.
All Talks are free to attend with a valid ticket to London Art Fair.
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Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for over 15 years, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Curating exhibitions and building art collections internationally, her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQIA+ identity. Gemma is an advisor to early stage startups, global businesses and cultural projects and she teaches at institutions including the Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art and Goldsmiths. She co-chairs the board of trustees for the charity Queercircle and is a member of the Courtauld Association Committee. She spent a decade working at the intersection of art and technology, holding positions of Chief Curator at Avant Arte and Curatorial Director at Artsy. In 2011 Gemma launched the arts arm of the East London Fawcett Group and ran their 2012-2013 Art Audit campaign. Most recently she curated Tschabalala Self’s first public art project at Coal Drops Yard in London and the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of Queer art in the UK. Her group exhibition ‘Dreaming of Home’ is currently on view at Leslie Lohman Museum of Art in NYC and she is the host of the museum’s new podcast series. Her debut book ‘Queer Art’ will be published in 2024 by Frances Lincoln.
Robert Taylor has published and exhibited widely over the last 30 years, with work in the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery and several other permanent collections including The Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, Oxford University and Aston University. Following service in the RAF INTERVIEW, being called to the Bar, and educational publishing in Nigeria, his friendship with the photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayode was a major influence on his decision to become a photographer himself. Robert’s current practice divides between collections of portraits commissioned by academic and scientific institutions including the Royal Society, and Oxford University colleges celebrating landmark anniversaries such as the first admission of women into hitherto all male institutions.