We rounded up the queerer of the literally hundreds of events happening at 135 venues across the Greater Toronto Area
Provocative, beautiful, curious – Toronto’s annual CONTACT Photography Festival is back May 1st to 31st with hundreds of events at 135 venues across the Greater Toronto Area. All of the events are free and open to the public.
Sticking very much to the Yohomo brand, we’ve singled out some of the queerer selections for your enjoyment.
This piece, as of much of American photographer Alanna Fields' work, explores Black queer life from the past. "Her interest reaches backward to a time before she was born—long before our contemporary moment, in which queer identities and iconography are increasingly detached from their origins, commodified, and casually tried on at will." You can catch this beautiful piece on a billboard at the corner of Strachan and King.
JORDAN KING - UNTITLED POLAROID SERIES
Drawing inspiration from the personal effects of 1970s—‘80s trans drag artist International Chrysis (which Jordan King inherited from a friend) and from Chrysis’ New York apartment (which King inhabited decades after the performer’s untimely death), King revives her longstanding interest in Polaroids to pay homage to the gone icon with a striking installation on a billboard at Queen Street West and Augusta Avenue.
MONICA ROONEY - WE REMAIN: PORTRAITS OF TRANSGENDER YOUTH
Merging writing with portraits of her two transgender children, Rooney’s painstakingly constructed images represent a full-on artistic emotional venting of her thoughts and feelings around trans people, politics and family. This work is on display from May 3 to 25 at Cafe Zuzu.
Centred around images of a transgender couple—CJ Pirtle and Milo Elliot—Lee Zeigler’s work looks at the queer experience of marginalization, the beauty of authenticity, and the fight for acceptance. This work exhibits from May 1 to 11 at Gallery 1313.
GUN ROZE - THE BASEMENT PROJECT
And then there’s a spicy one! For this erotic set of images, models were asked to showcase their fetishes for the camera. It’s all the erotic, filthy stuff best left for backrooms, dark corners . . . basements. You can find this work on display from May 1 to 31 at The House Gallery.
LEONILA VARZHEVSKA - AMUSE US
Leonila Varzhevska’s aptly-named collection of characters shines a light on the way society can’t handle us in real life, but is happy to reduce queer expression to a set of archetypes for entertainment. Check out these characters from May 1 to 31 at The House Gallery.
Queer photographer Steven Beckly’s new photographic series Handy Work "stems from a collaborative process between the artist and his father, a Chinese-Canadian war veteran. The images feature their hands, adorned with unique brass rings created using 3D-printing technology." You can see this one at the Daniel Feria Gallery from May 1 until June 14.
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Title image for the blog post is by Jordan King, Untitled-1, 2020. Polaroid. Courtesy of the artist. Billboard on view at Queen St. W and Augusta Ave. May 1-31, 2025.
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