Hot art, fierce leotards and diva beats meet community activism in Flawless: A Beyoncé Inspired Art Show and Fundraiser taking place April 18 at Studio East. Flawless is one of a series of celebrity-themed art shows aimed at promoting creative accessibility and inclusivity. Local and international artists from all walks of life submitted paintings, short stories, drag, mixed media, video, drawing, bedazzling, dancing and sculpture to the show. Submissions of any size, medium, or skill level were considered, as long as content related to pop goddess Beyoncé.

But Flawless is more than a celebration of Ms. Knowles’ beauty and abilities; two of it’s main aims are to raise funds for the Positive Women’s Network, Canada’s longest-running HIV organization for women, and to support artists. All proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to the PNV, and featured artists will keep 100% of their commissions.

Sad Mag sat down with Christina Chant, the bubbly mastermind behind Saturday’s bootylicious event, to chat art, nursing and, of course, Beyoncé.

Sad Mag: Why did you first start doing art shows?

Christina Chant: It’s been almost four years, which is crazy to me. In the summer of 2011, my best friend and I—it was our third time going to Burning Man—wanted to plan something fun for a theme camp. A friend had joked about putting on a “Steven Seagallery”: an art gallery dedicated to Steven Seagal. We asked him for permission to use the idea and he said, “You do it, go for it. Just make sure it’s great.”

So we put on a couple art parties on at our house with friends who were going to Burning Man, just to come together and make art. When I came home [from the festival], I had all this art left over. I have friends who are artists and I asked one of them whether she any idea of galleries that would be interested in hosting this. She said, “Yes,” and I said, “That’s hilarious,” and laughed for, like, half an hour. She helped me put on our first gallery, which was at the Toast Collective in October of 2011. We had a great turnout and also made some money. We used that for the next show, “Bill You Murray Me,” which was huge. [From there], it just started rolling.

SM: What was the initial reaction to the shows?

CC: The best part was that lots of people wanted to purchase paintings, and lots of people were just really nice about wanting to be a part of it. We had a lot of first-time submitters, who said, “It’s amazing that you put this on, because it’s less pretentious, and I can actually participate.” [It’s true:] as long as it’s not racist, sexist, misogynistic stuff, we’ll put it in the show. It could be stick people and we wouldn’t care.

SM: I know you also work in nursing. Has your profession helped or hindered your involvement in the art shows?

CC: Well, [as a nurse] you have to be really organized; you’re prioritizing for chaos. You acknowledge that your day is unpredictable and you try to do all the work you can do up front. That way, when chaos does come, you are prepared. I’ve worked as a charge nurse and an educator, and you do more planning work and coordinating with that. I think it’s just helped.

SM: How do you brainstorm the themes for the shows?

CC: Well, for this last one, I was going to the bathroom—I was going pee—and all of a sudden I had this idea for Beyoncé.

SM: Epiphany?

CC: It was, it really was—Epipha-pee!

In the past, though, I’ve just brainstormed with friends. Bill Murray just came up in conversation. And because we’d done a few shows around men, I decided I needed to do something about women. Plus, Beyoncé’s a total boss. It just made a lot of sense.

The key pieces are just ensuring that the person we choose [as a theme] has a bit of nostalgia about them that people can connect to. That they can be funny, but also people clearly have to like the actual subject. It’s that connection—we love pop culture, you can’t avoid it. Our goal of inclusivity is trying to get people from different parts of the community to come out. Again, pop culture is a piece to that. You’re getting people from the suburbs to come in and look at art (which is amazing), but also, they’re getting exposed to different forms of art: drag, performance monologue, music. It just brings out a different crew, which I appreciate.

SM: Your past events have often been free or by donation. Why did you decide to do it differently this time?

CC: Traditionally we haven’t had a door cost; we really wanted to ensure that everyone can attend if they want to. This is the first time we’ve had a door fee, which I chose in part so that we have an honorarium for the performance artists. We thought eight dollars at the lower end of the sliding scale would be affordable to most people, but we still have that caveat that if people can’t afford it, they can email us and we can put them on a list. I know that we could make more money off of it, if we wanted to. But not everything should have to have a price. It’s expensive to live [in Vancouver], for artists especially. If you make the intention to make [something] affordable, it can be.

SM: And the proceeds from this door fee will go directly to the Positive Women’s Network, right? Can you tell me a little about what they do and why you choose to support them?

CC: I’ve worked in HIV, primary care, and mental health and addictions for seven years, and I’ve been on the Positive Women’s Network board for almost two years. The PWN provides support all across BC, through the internet and through an educator who goes across the community to provide education about HIV. They also have retreats; they provide money for the women to fly down and give them money for their childcare. It’s one of the few places where women can go to be open about their HIV status without dealing with stigma. Especially in rural communities, it’s just not safe to disclose your HIV status, and even in an urban centre, stigma is one of the most persistent things that has followed over the trajectory of HIV. So even though people can live very healthy lives and are not a risk to the community, because of the way our justice system is organized, it’s still very much a crime to have HIV.

So, [PWN] is great. They have a drop-in, a food bank day, and they help with general support and advocacy in the community. They do amazing, amazing work.

SM: What’s been the biggest challenge you faced while organizing Flawless?

CC: At the beginning for this show we weren’t getting enough submissions, which was scary for me. It’s hard not to compare to past shows; in the past we’ve had a lot of submissions up front. At this point we’re very comfortable with how many submissions we have, but it has actually been the lowest amount ever. I think people are afraid to ruin Beyoncé’s face, and she’s hard for people to be satirical about her. There’s a great Saturday Night Live sketch about it called the “Bagency.” You can’t criticize Beyoncé or you’ll be locked up and put away. She can’t be touched—she’s worshipped.

SM: What kind of submissions have you received?

CC: We got some really, really awesome stuff. When we weren’t getting enough submissions, I was hashtagging the “Beyhive” and other Beyoncé-type things on Instagram and Twitter, so we were able to get international contacts. We have submissions from Spain, South Africa, London, LA, Halifax, Toronto, Israel. A lot of them are younger people, so instead of them having to pay a lot for shipping, we’re going to be projecting their submissions.

 

SM: Okay, one last question: What’s your favourite Beyoncé song?

CC: I love listening to “Grown Woman,” but it’s a very close one to “Crazy in Love.” It’s just so fun to listen to “Grown Woman” while you’re at home, chillin’, or even cleaning. I think it’s great. ‘Cause I’m just like, “Yeah, I am a grown woman…so empowered!”

 

Flawless takes place Saturday, April 18 from 7 pm – 2 am at Studio East.
Tickets are available online or at the door.