JACOB
LE GALLAIS
"I'm an artist-researcher and educator. My digital drawing series “Cheeky” explores gay imagery on social media, the male body, and portraiture. This daily digital sketching project, begun during the first lockdown of the COVD 19 Pandemic, constitutes a relatively new exploration of queer themes and identity in my work. Each illustration features my love of bright primary colors, coupled with a paired-back minimalist aesthetic reminiscent of 20th century Pop Art. In each piece, I aim to capture the simple, subtle/not so subtle sexuality of the male body and everyday gay moments. Other explorations of queer themes in my work have explored 1950’s “Beefcake” photography/physique imagery, and a queering of the male form in the western art historical canon."
"Elsewhere, my work has investigated a variety of subjects, including notions of post-industrial ecology, urban wildlife, historic and contemporary museum culture, and experiential learning. I have a strong orientation to collaborative and participatory making, as well as to the processes of collage, mapping, and craft practice. I have worked in community and institutional settings both solo and collaboratively, and exhibited in Quebec and Ontario. "
"I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Art Education from Concordia University, having previously completed my Masters Degree in Art Education in 2018, also at Concordia. My MA thesis combined participatory learning and making-as-research to examine museum taxidermy as repositories of complex histories. In addition to my MA, I hold a BFA in Art History (2013) from Concordia University and a DEC Studio Arts from Dawson College. I live and work in Montreal. "
