The Bomb Factory Art Foundation presents CORNERED, a solo exhibition by Marc-Aurèle Debut, one of Bomb Factory Art Foundation’s resident artists, with accompanying Text by Bella Bonner-Evans.
This powerful exploration of contemporary gay culture through an autobiographical lens is on display at The Bomb Factory Holborn until 25th August.
CORNERED delves into the intricate landscape of modern gay experiences through a series of immersive installations. Debut’s work navigates the complex interplay between sex, shame, and identity, drawing from the realities of anonymous encounters and digital hookup culture. The exhibition neither critiques nor celebrates the rituals common in many gay men’s lives. Instead, it seeks to express and reconcile the physical and psychological effects the artist has experienced from participating in these practices. With unflinching vulnerability, Debut lays bare the often-concealed facets of gay life in London.
He invites discourse on experiences frequently repressed in the name of Pride, exposing and interrogating the complex relationship between gay sex and shame. By holding violence, carnality, tenderness and pain in tension, CORNERED uncovers the nuanced realities of contemporary gay men’s lives, encouraging a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of LGBTQ+ experiences.
Marc-Aurèle Debut, CORNERED, – 25th August 2024, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation
About the artist
Through his work, spanning photography, sculpture and installation, London-Based artist Marc-Aurèle Debut explores the cultural and psychological complexities of sexuality. He is interested in the structural and environmental forces that act upon gay people’s bodies and identities both from within and outside the queer community.
Utilising an autobiographical lens, the artist confronts the dark corners of contemporary queer culture, investigating the impact of practices such as BDSM and Chemsex on the mental and physical wellbeing of gay men. Whether implied or literally present, the masculine body acts as a leitmotif in his work, often used to allude to the artist’s own sexual experiences or personal traumas.
His practice is informed by his academic background in medicine, alongside his interest in the writings of philosophers such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault and Julia Kristiva and the work of artists including Monica Bonvicini, Félix González-Torres and Carlos Motta.
Marc-Aurèle Debut (b.1990, Besançon, France) lives and works in London. He holds an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London (2020) and a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, London (2015). Between 2008 and 2011, Debut studied Medicine at UFR Santé, Medical School in Besançon, France.
His work has featured in multiple exhibitions including ‘Lay Bare’, Night Café Gallery, London, UK (2024); ‘Ether’, The Residency Gallery, London, UK (2024); ‘The Way Of All Flesh’, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2024); ‘Softcore/Hardcore’, D Contemporary, London, UK (2023); ‘Unfurnished’, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, London, UK (2023); ‘2for1’ curated by Thorp Stavri & Haze Projects, Hypha Studios, London, UK (2023); ‘Coitus’, Christian Cowan Flagship Store, New York, USA (2023); ‘Fluidity’, Night Café Gallery, London, UK (2023); ‘Meat Market #1’, Tanners Hill, London, UK (2023) and ToF presents curated by the Tom of Finland Foundation, The Standard, London, UK (2023) among others. His work was also presented at the Hybrid Art Fair, Madrid, Spain by Ye Collective in 2023.
