Testosterone: Mythologies of Identity

From July 12th to September 6th, 2014, Galerie Donald Browne presents TESTOSTERONE: Mythologies of Identities. This group exhibition features works by Raymonde April, Louis Fortier, Olivier Gariépy, Shari Hatt, JennaMeyers and Jérôme Ruby (curator: Charlotte Rousseau).

Janus is the first Roman god, the one who presides beginnings and ends, transitions and choices, keys and doors: he alone can allow openings and closings. He is invoked at first and in every instance, and is considered as a paternal figure.According to Ovid, Janus’ double face represents the universality of his power onsky, earth and sea, past and future.In collective imaginary, testosterone is synonym of hair, muscle, sexual performance,sweat, power, competition and motor engines. You can nowadays inject or swallow it.

Why is there so much interest around this molecule? It runs in our veins, social networks,urban arteries. We are talking here about two chemistries, which compose respectively our biological and social bodies.

Testosterone is a vector of physical and emotional fluctuation, and stands at the core of fundamental questions of identity. Each human being is subject to it on different levels and in various ways throughout his life. The testosterone level of men thus diminishes when in a relationship, while the one of women augments in the same situation. However, this balance would last from one to three years… These cycles provoke turmoil, ambiguities and desires; drive of life, death and creation.The artists approach issues of identities through various mythologies, whether personal,social, historical, popular, Greek or Roman. They are brought together here for a manifesto of polysemy, declination, nuance and hybridity.