A nondenominational internment site where many of San Francisco’s gay community who passed away from complications from AIDS rest, the Neptune Society Columbarium inspired Faught, who took an interest in the personal archive created by the seemingly random objects left by loved ones as a tribute to those lost. Not necessarily a simply interpreted portrait of his former sexual partners or their time together–however fleeting, Faught’s works trace an ephemeral history of these relationships, using craft and, at times, kitschy, mass-produced objects as evidence of queer intimacy.Įxplained in the gallery’s press release, Faught’s motivation in constructing a queer archive originated with his site-specific project at the Neptune Society Columbarium of San Francisco. With titles such as “Scott,” “Andrew,” “Bill,” “Benjamin,” and “Steve” whose names are sewn into the fabric of the works, Faught’s woven pieces each refer to one or multiple of his romantic partners. Hand woven hemp, hand dyed in the range of colors from Elephant Grey to Bougainvillea, colors of the 2013-2014 fashion color forecast on linen
Instead of mapping the ever-elongating holiday season, Faught’s sculptures and wall-mounted fabric works pose a similar confusion between the past, present and future in the remembering of queer acts and desire. Using this bizarre space of holiday cheer as a metaphor for blurred temporal distinctions, San Francisco-based artist Josh Fraught’s timely titled exhibition Christmas Creep at Lisa Cooley presents a complex and moving interrogation of the temporality of memory and the preservation of queer desire.ĭespite the title of this essay, which was really just an excuse to reference my favorite Christmas song about Santa’s midnight creep, Faught’s intricate and intimate work has little to do with the manic Christmas spirit invading October and November. As Halloween ends and Thanksgiving looms, the Christmas ornaments, candy canes, blow-up Santa lawn ornaments and Christmas lights begin to fill stores, erasing the divisions between late fall and winter. It’s that time again–the Christmas creep.
Josh Faught, Movies (Craig, Mike, Michael, Paul, Matt, Ben, Andy)Ģ014, Hand woven gold lame and hemp (hand dyed in fashionable shades of blue-black), sequin letters, laminated personal ads from ‘The Hobby Directory,’ glittered clothespins, Witness (VHS), onion rings (rubber), and Jacquard woven movie calendar from a residential hotel in San Francisco on Cedar support (all images courtesy of the artist and Lisa Cooley, New York)