Collective Feelings

by Suzanne Révy

Caleb Cole collects. The ephemera and found photographs on view at Gallery Kayafas are a testament to his quirky sense of humor and his deep empathy for the humanity of queer lives. Filling three rooms in the gallery, Cole employs installation, video, vernacular and alternative process photography to weave thematic threads of comfort and pain in the history and culture of the LGBTQIA community. His exhibition, Collective Feelings will be on view through December 4th, 2021 with a reception planned for Friday, December 3rd at 5pm. 

Collective Feelings by Caleb Cole on view at Gallery Kayafas, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.

“Lovers” by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Collective Feelings by Caleb Cole at Gallery Kayafas, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.

The exhibit opens with an installation that is rich in texture. A quilt of torn jeans or one of vintage t-shirts or an anonymous grid of intimate found photographs all mirror the pattern of two crocheted afghan blankets that anchor the installation. As a viewer, the warm embrace of blankets or quilts bring to mind soothing pleasures, but Cole disrupts them with leather straps or political buttons to reveal the multiplicity and contradictions in identity. The intimacy of the found snapshots endows the room with an aching sense of desire, yet the references to the Stonewall riots and the ripped jeans are a subtext for the challenges that the queer community faces in living an authentic life. 

“Riot Parade” by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, altered found photograph, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Collective Feelings by Caleb Cole at Gallery Kayafas, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.

“Limp Wrist” by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, altered and collaged found photographs, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Beyond” by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, altered and collaged found photographs, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Collective Feelings by Caleb Cole at Gallery Kayafas, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.

A series of altered and collaged vernacular snapshots builds on this idea in a second room. As a collector, Cole has a keen eye for finding snapshots that feature figures or people who look somewhat out of place, often underlined by accidental compositions or a misfired flash. He then presents them in dialog with each other and in a sequence around a stage adorned with silver fringe and a grid of mirrors which evoke the performative. Across the room two mirrored disco balls reflect and refract light into the ceiling next to an installation of leather jackets, crocheted hangers and a “molotov cocktail” fashioned from scarves. The gallery pulses with a gritty kind of punch drunk love and danger that recalls underground queer club scenes of the 1970’s. 

“Draya McCarty” by Caleb Cole from the series In Lieu of Flowers, part of the Collective Feelings exhibition, anthotype print, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In Lieu of Flowers by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, installation photograph courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Tony McDade” by Caleb Cole from the series In Lieu of Flowers, part of the Collective Feelings exhibition, anthotype print, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Poignantly, Cole includes an installation of ephemeral anthotypes – light sensitive material made from plants or flowers – featuring found portraits of transgendered people who have been murdered in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Employing roses from his garden in the process, the images are arranged in a grid on three walls around a cenotaph with a vase filled with roses and a stack of prepared papers with maroon color of the light sensitive material. Cole anticipates more death, and in fact, since the exhibit opened, three more people from this community have been murdered. These faint faces rendered in a process that will fade over time becomes a moving metaphor. In an exhibit that contrasts vivacity and terror, comfort and pain, Cole presents a wrenching narrative of a community who brave physical threats for having the temerity to simply be themselves. 

For more information: https://www.gallerykayafas.com

(Featured Image) “Gemini” by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, altered found photograph courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.