Nicole Eisenman, Klara Liden, Sarah Lucas

Ridykeulous Presents: Ridykes’ Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos

This publication is the first exhibition catalogue by Ridykeulous, joined by Sam Roeck, and accompanied the fall 2023 exhibition Ridykes’ Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos at Nottingham Contemporary, featuring the work of over 30 “très gay” contemporary visual artists working across film, video installation, sculpture and performance. Within this deeply non-binaried proposition, Ridykeulous deploys their signature use of humour and subversion of language to critique the art world and heteropatriarchal culture at large. “Humour is not just a tool,” Ridykeulous explains, “it’s also a survival technique.” 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”.

With newly commissioned texts by curator Lia Gangitano and Alexandro Segade of the artist collective My Barbarian, the catalogue is complemented by a conversation between Ridykeulous members Nicole Eisenman, A.L. Steiner and Sam Roeck, 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.