Pierre Dalpé
Wigstock
Nov 7 - Dec 21, 2024
Man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.
- -Oscar Wilde
I am a gay artist based in Montreal, Canada. My photography and video work explores the interconnected relationships between the body, identity, disguise, and performance. Notions surrounding masking and masquerade are at the core of my creative investigations; I am particularly fascinated with how masking can simultaneously be used to conceal as well as reveal.
Oscillating between documentary-style reportage and staged mise-en-scène, my photography questions preconceived notions regarding photographic portraiture and narrative representations. In my documentary work I photograph individuals in public, private and intimate spaces—in environments where individuals perform, role play or act out desires involving masking, masquerade, and disguise. For my staged work I collaborate with individuals to deconstruct and bring to light the many identities that might be hidden beneath a multitude of masks and façades—to excavate and reveal the personae that lay beneath their surface(s).
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that took place between 1984 and 2005 in various locations throughout New York City. Held every Labour Day weekend, the festival acted as an unofficial end of summer for NYC’s LGBTQ+ community. I documented Wigstock from 1992-1995 at the height of its popularity and captured the fabulousness of drag and disguise in all its glorious forms.
Wigstock included spectacular on-stage drag performances and musical acts, but the most compelling aspect for me was the audience itself. Mainstream pop culture was put through a gender blender by thousands of people in an assortment of cross-dressing drag, carnivalesque costumes, Halloween outfits, DIY fashion, and fetish wear. Wigstock attendees illustrated an early 90’s queer aesthetic while critiquing mainstream culture by appropriating, remixing, and queering it.
The years that I documented Wigstock correspond with a period in history when gender boundaries and trans politics were on the verge of a revolution, not just in the LGBTQ+ community but in North American pop culture and beyond. At a time when queer people were experiencing overwhelming anxiety, hate, and backlash because of the AIDS pandemic, Wigstock was a much-needed opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community to express joy, strength, audacity, and pride. My images of this time capture the energized and invigorated subjects who went on to witness and make significant changes in the queer community in the years to follow. These include pivotal struggles such as the fight for trans rights, the battle for marriage equality, and efforts to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. I feel privileged to have been a witness to, and storyteller of, this significant and historical event.
Despite the many gains the LGBTQ+ community has made in the past 30 years, we are still fighting for many of the same rights. I feel that this body of work is an important time capsule from the past, as it speaks to where we are coming from, and allows the conversation to continue regarding where we are going; not only in terms of LGBTQ+ rights but the rights of all people to express themselves freely, no matter their gender, race, religion or background.
Pierre Dalpé (b. 1964, Canadian, he/him/his) was born in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, and moved to Montreal at the age of 7, where he has since lived and worked. In 1993, he received a B.F.A. in film studies and photography from Concordia University, in Montreal. His work has been published and exhibited in Canada, the United States, Europe, Russia, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Brazil and the Middle East. He has received grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and from the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2012, Les Éditions Cayenne published a monograph of his work spanning 20 years of his photographic practice, featuring two bodies of work: Clothes Minded and Personae. This monograph was funded with a grant from the CALQ. He has participated in Artist in Residence programs at: The Banff Centre; the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City, Yukon; the CALQ’s Quebec Studio in Mexico City; the Beirut Art Residency in Beirut, Lebanon; and in 2023 he participated in a research residency at Uberbau_house in São Paulo, Brazil. Much of his work in the past decade has centered around his travels to Japan and Brazil, where he has continued his exploration of masking and masquerade.