Alex Buchan

Artist Bio

Alex Buchan is an artist in Columbus, OH. His large-scale monochrome prints and installations reference artists such as Paul Thek, Terence Koh, and Tom of Finland. By placing his own sexual desire in the foreground, he is confronting violence and exclusion based on the most intimate moments of life.

Artist's Manifesto

I have been groomed sexually since my childhood. Not by drag queens or public schools, but by preachers and pearl clutchers who force my most private moments into public debate. My grandmother’s friends warning her that I had a little sugar, and cooing that I was too cute for a boy; my dad watching me pee to make sure I stood up, and shower to make sure I faced the water; a Sunday school teacher blocking me from speaking to other boys and teaching about unforgivable sins. These righteously empowered persecutors have defined a vast subculture by a single aspect of our queer existence. Echoing a chaotic and often violent history of existing in a culture where crossdressing is demonized as pedophilic grooming, my artwork takes the black halftone dots of cheaply printed men’s physique magazines and purposely conflates the fantasy world of pornography with the real social consequences of indulgence. My work is dedicated to the tradition of queer artists who chose to embrace the elements of sexuality that were being used against them in the name of bigotry. Though these artists were often relegated to showing their work in seedy bars and adult bookstores under pseudonyms like Tom of Finland, Rex, Valentine, and Domino, their form and mythos persists through my work.

As counselors and confidants tried to assign my sexuality through lectures and guilt; my peers used beatings and harassment. Even reluctant participation in this compulsory heterosexuality did nothing to slow the abuse. I have since lost respect for a society that has never been willing to give me a chance. I don’t care about your religious freedom. I do not respect your ‘right’ to discriminate against me. I will not be quiet and complacent while being shunned from the public sphere. I am not belligerent; I am under attack. My family will never vanish, just as it never appeared. Our experiences are human and deserve space to unfold. Where no space is offered, it will be stolen. We will never let you drive us out.