Ridykes' Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos

By: Ridykeulous

The first exhibition catalogue of the acclaimed queer, feminist curatorial initiative Ridykeulous, marking the occasion of their first institutional presentation in Europe at Nottingham Contemporary.

Founded in 2005, Ridykeulous mounts exhibitions and events primarily concerned with queer and feminist art. This publication will be the first exhibition catalogue by Ridykeulous, joined by Sam Roeck, and will accompany the fall 2023 exhibition Ridykes’ Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos at Nottingham Contemporary. With newly commissioned texts by writer and performer Laurie Weeks and Alexandro Segade of the artist collective My Barbarian, the catalogue will be complemented by a conversation between Ridykeulous members Nicole Eisenman and A. L. Steiner, providing insights into the collective’s thinking, politics, behind-the-scenes notations, and methods of exploration, as well as an introduction by Nottingham Contemporary’s Chief Curator Nicole Yip.

Using humor to critique the art world and heteropatriarchal culture at-large, Ridykeulous often reinvents language to reflect their sensibilities and concerns—composing communiqués, screeds, and diatribes across various media. The exhibition features an intergenerational mix of 30 contemporary visual artists working across film, video installation, sculpture, and performance. Playfully proposing queer fabulosity as a critical intervention in the capitalist spectacle, the exhibition seeks to erode the secondary positioning of LGBTQ+ art and artists as “alternative.” Designed by the Zürich-based Studio Marie Lusa, the publication will evoke the textual feeling of a zine, with over 100 full-color and black-and-white image plates.