Jamil Hellu*

Lot #31
“Growing up in Canada, Katie Bush had very little exposure to gay culture, until she saw artists like Boy George & Grace Jones on TV. Through them, she grew to recognize that fashion could be a form of political armor used to find community and self-sustaining queer strength & resistance.” 2018
Digital pigment print on Hahnemühle Fine Art archival paper.
20 x 13.5 inches
Courtesy of Rebecca Camacho Presents, San Francisco

About the Artwork

Jamil Hellu (Headlands Graduate Fellow ‘10) is a visual artist whose work focuses on themes of identity representation and cultural heritage, addressing intersections between race, gender, and sexuality. Working through a personal lens, his practice weaves together photographic imagery, video, and installation to amplify queer histories and challenge the social construct of masculinity. This portrait is part of an ongoing series entitled Hues, in which Hellu invites members of LGBTQ+ communities to collaborate in developing a form of participatory portraiture about queer identity and cultural lineages. “By inserting myself into each photograph,” notes Hellu, “I am invested in activating a dialogue about what happens when the photographer leaves the space behind the camera to join his subjects in front of the lens.” Hellu is the recipient of a San Francisco Artist Grant, Zellerbach Family Foundation Community Grant, Fleishhacker Foundation Eureka Fellowship, and the Kala Art Institute Fellowship. Hellu’s work was featured in the triennial exhibition Bay Area Now 8 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Retail Value: $3,200