#BEARCULTURE

"LOVED puts Bear culture under the most intence microscope." VICE TV

 

LOVED, an illustration and sound installation by Canadian artists Charlie Hunter and Mike Wyeld, documents the experiences of the global Bear community and explores its incarnations and edges. LOVED explores aging and body image within a wider LGBTQ+ culture that often values youth and unattainable beauty more than health, both physical and mental.

 

Since they last came to Tallinn Bearty, LOVED has found itself in Boston/Provincetown in the USA, London, Helsinki Finland, Liverpool UK. Upcoming shows taking it further. At each stop the stories grow…

 

LGBTQ+ people often find ourselves equal parts credited and accused of igniting social change. From civil rights to gentrification, it’s easy to project polemic onto such a diverse group – a group who still rankle and illuminate the darkened corners of love. While myths of beauty and ideas around body shape, fitness, even obesity are hotly debated in mainstream culture, some people – including Bears – have found acceptance in new movements, formed new alliances and set in motion new ideas, they are “LOVED.”

 

“Maybe I will be loved, and maybe I won’t be loved,
but my desire and the possibility of me being desired has led me to some really beautiful places.”
LOVED Participant