David Hodge, better known to many on the gay scene as DJ and performer Dusty O, has built a new life as an artist and to much critical success – including an exhibition at the Houses of Parliament. This month he writes for us about the ups and downs of being an artist in search of a gallery.
From the outside, the world of visual arts can seem rather daunting, impenetrable and dare I say, sometimes ridiculous.
Stuffy academics talk method and process in language we don’t entirely understand – or indeed want to. Realism and cubism, contemporary and fine art…. it all blurs into a bilge of pompous elitism.
All the jargon thrown in our direction denies us our basic human right to relish the joy of art and to experience each artist’s emotions and the reasoning behind their work.
Good art tells a story or expresses an idea that in turn takes viewers on a journey through the gamut of human experiences. Art should educate and entertain us as well as give the world something beautiful or interesting to look at and enjoy.
Four years ago, as an untrained novice dipping his toes into this ‘milieu’ I soon discovered that the art world, in some quarters, is dominated by elitist cliques who are purely commercially driven. They show little respect for or understanding of the creatives at the heart of their ‘industry’. More often than not, as in many other desirable career paths, if your face doesn’t fit you won’t get the gig! In short, without gallery representation it is hard to make a full time living from art.
I decided early on that I would have to do things in my own way to break into this hallowed world. My attitude – if they didn’t like me they could ‘fuck off’. On reflection, as a middle aged, ex drag queen with a limited knowledge of the art scene it maybe isn’t surprising that few people took me seriously. It was up to me to change their perceptions and so I kept painting and drew on the resolve and inner strength that has got me this far in life.
My first exhibition was in a North London cafe and it sold out during its first week. This gave me hope but still no gallery would touch me. So I self-funded a two week show in a shop basement on Brick Lane. Again it sold out and slowly I was beginning to attract a few serious collectors who understood my work. Still no gallery representation though. I was too ‘queer’ and, I was told, considered ‘demanding’.
Then I took a chance whilst on holiday in Sitges and badgered a gallery into hosting a small exhibition of my work. I paid for everything myself through working as a receptionist in my friend’s salon. The days of having a pot load of money from London’s clubland are well behind me. The exhibition went well and one of the visitors was the Baron Davenport an entrepreneur and owner of the famous Davenports Brewery who became my sponsor and funded a prestigious exhibition of my work in Birmingham which brought local dignitaries flocking in. Then, incredibly, I was invited to exhibit at the Palace of Westminster by a local Birmingham MP. It was the first Queer Art Preview to be held in the Houses of Parliament. Pride and ParliOUT supported me alongside my mentor Baron Davenport. The exhibition was covered in mainstream media and I sold every piece of work on show in 3 hours. I will always be incredibly proud of what this represented to me and our queer community.
As I write I still don’t have gallery representation or a manager. I know that what is meant to happen will happen, but crucially I am still doing what I set out to do and in the way I want to do it. Rejection for not conforming has been an ongoing presence in my life so I’m pretty used to making my own kind of music.
As anyone who knows me will already be familiar – if Dusty doesn’t get an invite to the ball he will just run up his own gown, hail an Uber and go anyway!
@MissDustyO Twitter
Photos by Marc Abe
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