HEN, THE OLDER TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY IN THE UK
EXHIBITION APRIL 2019
AT HERRICK GALLERY (LONDON)
Mina Raven is pleased to present an exhibition by British photographer Bex Day, bringing together works from her long-term documentary 'Hen' produced over a period of 5 years. Including 30 photographic portraits of transgender subjects over the age of 40, a film and an educational program of workshops and panel discussion, Hen aims to promote a better understanding of integration in and outside the transgender community.
Hen is an anthropological study on gender fluidity and an exploration into the lasting impact societal restrictions concerning sexual identity and gender roles have upon us. It examines how gender stereotypes have affected the older transgender community and questions how we define gender and if as a society we should, as well as exploring the inherent social and cultural problems within these alienating classifications.
Hen translates in Swedish as the gender-neutral personal pronoun, the equivalent to ‘they’ in English. Transgender is an umbrella term and includes those who identify as transgender and as non-binary.
Please visit www.henexhibition.com
©Bex Day
BEX DAY
Rigid beauty ideals and stereotypes are a burden to our society, they exist only to exacerbate division and tribalism within our communities. By breaking conventions and removing people from these futile constructs and empowering the overlooked and underrepresented communities, Bex challenges this archaic view of what it means to be human. By toying with the concept of categorisation, Bex aims to produce playful, humorous and surreal imagery that questions the effects of labelling on identity. Her portfolio constitutes an amalgamation of these themes, focusing predominantly on gender, diversity, individuality, the human condition, and freedom of choice.
Bex uses storytelling to disrupt the flow of preconception and judgement within her work. By empowering each subject through their sensibilities, she is able to create intimate, raw and sensitive images, designed to encourage both honesty and ambiguity, and explore the subtleties within human behaviour and identity politics. This is executed through the use of jaunty, vivid, saturated colour palettes and colour-blocking within her imagery.
Surrealism shakes off the limitations of the standardised world view; by constructing fantastical settings and scenes within her work, she is able to show and invite others to understand her subjects as they truly are, legitimising each and every individual throughout the varied sectors of fashion, documentary and portraiture. By leading her creative collaborations on set, she is able to perfect every minute detail within the image-making process, to create authentic representation and relatable imagery.
Here’s to a new sense of normality.