FreQshow Provides New Platform for LGBTQ Artists of Color

It's a new concept. A nude art show aimed at attracting an audience of queer folks of color. FreQshow, which will be co-produced by artist and local style icon DL Perrett and Imagine This Productions, will take place Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Charlevoix Gallery on Detroit's east side.
"I attended a nude art show some years back and I fell in love with the environment, the people and the art," Perrett said. "I felt like I was in my comfort zone … in an area where I could thrive."
Perrett, who is both a painter and a fashion designer, started entering a few shows, but said he wasn't pleased with how they turned out.
"So, I started doing research about what I was trying to create," he said. "I would do Google searches for sexy men or powerful women and I would never find people of color. I would have to scroll through three or four or five pages before I would find a person of color. I thought this show was a perfect way to reshape the imagery."
The show, said Perrett, is going to be "bold."
"It's going to be tasteful and very intriguing," he said. "It's going to be eye-opening … maybe even inspiring. I'd like folks to go home and maybe have a little fun. The show will feature one-of-a-kind art and some interactive playful exhibits. We're going to have a DJ to provide us with some sounds. There are going to be some wow moments … just enough to get people's hearts beating a little faster."
Featured in the show will be artists such as Chayse Ardon, Demetruis Green and Clay Drew, body painter Charly the Artist, performance and poet Jice Demere and photographers Rhiannon Chester and J Cross.
"This is an outside-of-the-box platform for LGBT artists of color," Perrett said. "I'm hoping that people will leave with a sense of self-discovery and self-appreciation."
Demere said it was easy decision to sign on to be part of the show. He will be performing a piece "about freedom and how freedom can be expressed through nudity."
"Because of the society that we live in and the moral grounds of our country, we're encouraged to cover up and put on clothes," Demere said. "To that end, a lot of people are insecure about showing flesh and showing skin. Any time you conquer a fear it releases a part of freedom inside of you. That's why I think this show is good because it kind of challenges the moral standings in society. Hopefully everyone walks away seeing that nudity isn't necessarily always attached to erotic thoughts."
Green, who will be painting live during the show, said the event, for him, will be a new challenge that he's excited to take on.
"It's kind of thrilling in the most heart-throbbing manner," he said. "I'm a bit nervous."
Very comfortable with nudity, Green said he prefers to be naked when he paints.
"I like being just as bare as my canvas at the beginning," he said. "There's less room for errors or spills, unless it's intentional. When I paint in the nude I'm simply more comfortable. With each brush stroke I began to harness more confidence. But even the less calculated or vulnerable strokes give aesthetic authenticity."