Artists: Zackary Drucker & Rhys Ernst
“Relationship” series
Brief Bio of Artist
Zackary Drucker is an American transgender multimedia artist born in 1983 and raised in Syracuse, New York. Rhys Ernst is a filmmaker and artist who is known to be the same age as Zackary; 35 years old. They collaborated “Relationship” series and its exhibition was hold at the Whitney Biennial in 2014. This chronicle collection of photographs shows the five years of their relationship (2008-2013) and their gender transitions over time. Throughout this time, Zackary transitioned from male to female as Rhys transitioned from female to male. The series was later exhibited at Luis De Jesus Gallery and it was released as a book in 2016.
Relationship #30, 2008-2013, C-print
– The photo is shot at bird’s eye view, showing a person curling up on one side of the bed.
– He’s lying on a white pillow, with another white pillow in between his legs.
– He’s wearing a casual white T-shirt, with a white towel covering his face fully.
– He has a tattoo of a view of one’s back. Overall, the photo is clean because of all those white components and background of the bed sheet.
– It feels like the protagonist is lonely, and he is trying to protect as well as hide himself.
Relationship #38, 2008-2013, C-print
– This photo is shot at a swimming pool.
– The protagonist is sitting on a bath towel at a side of the pool, with a bottle of beer, a box of cigarettes, and an ashtray besides.
– He’s wearing a bowler and a sunglasses.
– His facial expression seems reticent, and his gesture of showing his back and half of his face seems lonely.
– He has a tattoo of some seagulls, symbolizing freedom. Overall, the photo expresses the wish for freedom.
Relationship #50, 2008-2013, C-print
– There is only one person in this image. The performer is places on the middle right part of the image.
– He sits on a toilet, staring at a cat on the floor in front of him.
– There is a dull, peaceful look on his face as he focus his sight on the cat.
– Red dominates the image. The whole bathroom is painted in red, and the person’s also in a red jacket.
– The overwhelming color of red conflicts with the peacefulness in the person’s facial expression, as well as gives the image an uncomfortable tension.
– There is also a atmosphere of loneliness and privacy expressed in the scene since the picture is taken through a narrow hallway. It creates the illusion of peaking through the private and internal world of the character.
– Cats could also be a symbol of living alone because they are usually kept in small apartments, and they like to protect its own territory.
– I picture the character as a lonely cat person in an abnormal psychological condition.
